Big News
by Nature9000
Summary: Casey and Derek have been dating for two years. The only problem, their parents are getting married and they must keep their relationship secret, what will happen when the unexpected happens? R&R Dasey-obvious No flames or I will personally thank you!
1. The Big News

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: I didn't see this story on here so I had to write it up. It's an oneshot of course. This is before the very first episode of course.

* * *

"Derek, we've been dating for how long now?" Casey asked as she crossed her arms. 

"Almost two years, why do you ask?" Derek asked.

"We haven't ever met each other's parents!"

"This is true, but then again our parents never talk about the people they're dating, right?"

"Yeah, that's true. It would be nice to know who my mom's going out with…"

"Yeah, same for my dad and his girlfriend, yet is it really a big deal."

"_Yes_, it's a big deal that I haven't met your family and you haven't met mine." Casey took a drink from her smoothie that they had at the restaurant they were at. "I think we need to meet each other's families because we're getting as serious as we are."

"Well look, I'll talk to my dad and set up a day for you to meet my family and then you and I can set a day for me to meet your family. When is convenient for you?"

"Any time at all, when's a good time for you?"

"Any day you want, Casey."

"Okay then, I love you Derek." Derek took Casey's hand and smiled as he leaned forward and kissed Casey.

"I love you too, Casey. I must say, there is no girl quite like you."

"I don't know anyone better for me than you, Derek. You're the greatest guy I know."

--------------------

Derek walked in the living room and sat down on the couch, Edwin and George walked in the room and sat down next to him. "Hey son, how are you doing?" George asked.

"I couldn't be better, Dad."

"How's your girlfriend?" Edwin asked with a smirk.

"She's great, speaking of which, would you like to meet her sometime soon?"

"Yes!" Derek smiled and stood up.

"Great, because she wants to meet you and I believe it is a better time than any for you to meet her. She's beautiful and that's a fact."

"Have you scored with her yet?"

"Edwin…" Derek narrowed his eyes and stared at his brother with a sharp glare. George chuckled and patted Edwin on the back.

"As long as he uses protection, then we don't have anything to worry about," George stated. Derek rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Could we not talk about my sex life?" Derek asked as he crossed his arms.

"You actually have one?"

"Damn it…Don't embarrass me when you meet my girlfriend. I would very much appreciate you _not_ embarrassing me."

"Great, well I have some news that you may find fascinating."

"What, that you and your girlfriend have a sex life?"

"Derek!"

"Well you did it to me."

"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I am getting married."

"Oh, sweet, that's great Dad!"

"Thank you."

"I think we're getting some sisters," Edwin said with a sigh. "Great, that's just what we need, girls running around the house and girlifying it!"

"Ah come on, Edwin, there's nothing wrong with girls," Derek said with a smirk.

"I didn't say there was, I'm just saying that we don't need all those girls in the house and turning it into a girlish thing."

"I think you may like it."

"No, _you_ may like having these girls around but I'm not going to enjoy it."

"Okay you two, you'll be meeting the family in a few days," George stated.

"Okay, I'll have my girlfriend come meet you afterwards, how about the sixth?"

"That's fine."

----------------

"Mom, Lizzie, Marti, come here!" Casey exclaimed as she stepped into the living room. Lizzie and Marti came from the stairs and Nora walked in from the kitchen.

"What's going on Case?" Lizzie asked.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to meet my boyfriend."

"After all this time, of course we want to meet your _'perfect'_ boyfriend!"

"I never said he was perfect."

"Trust me…you make him out to be the most perfect guy in the entire world."

"Well…I don't have a response to that."

"So, have you scored with him yet?"

"Lizzie!"

"I'm just saying, you've been with him for so long and you two seem _so_ serious. You two have probably done something."

"Lizzie…"

"Lizzie, let's not talk about what your sister does in bed with her boyfriend," Nora stated.

"Mom!" By now, Casey's face was bright red.

"What are you talking about?" Marti asked as she titled her head.

"Nothing sweetie," Nora stated with a smile.

"Okay."

"Anyway, I wanted to know when you would want to meet my boyfriend."

"How about the eighth, will that day work?" Nora asked.

"Yeah that's fine."

"Good, because I have some news, George and I are getting married and I'm going to take you all to meet his family in a couple of days!"

"You're finally getting married? Yes!"

"Great, we get some boys to stink up the place," Lizzie stated.

"Oh, you'll probably love them!"

"No I won't, you might enjoy having them around but I won't. I can guarantee that much."

"I bet I could prove you wrong on that."

"I bet you can't. Eh, whatever though…I'm happy for you mom!" Lizzie hugged Nora and turned to Casey. "I can't wait to meet your perfect boyfriend, Casey."

"I'm so glad you're that enthusiastic." Casey smiled and then frowned when she felt a rumbling in her stomach. "I'll be right back." Casey walked to her bedroom as Nora, Lizzie and Marti watched.

"This is going to be fun!" Marti exclaimed with joy. Soon everyone heard a scream coming from Casey's room.

"What was that?" Nora asked as she quickly stood from where she had been sitting.

"Sorry, I tripped and fell down on something!" Casey exclaimed. "Don't worry about anything!"

---------------------

Derek and Casey sat an isolated area of the park that overlooked the sunset, "So the sixth is when you get to meet my family and the eighth is when I'll meet yours, it sounds good," Derek said with a smile."

"Yeah, but there's one problem, well if you want to call it that…"

"What?"

"Derek, I just recently found out that I'm…I'm…"

"You're what, Casey?" Casey brought her hands to her face and Derek wrapped his arm around her. "What's wrong, what's the matter?"

"Derek, I'm pregnant!"

"You're pregnant…then we have to tell our families this."

"We'll have to tell them all together I think."

"Yeah, we'll just tell set up another day for all of us to meet."

"How do you think my stepdad will handle a wife with a pregnant teenager?"

"I don't know…but I'm sure he won't mind. If he loves your mother then he'll be just fine with it!"

"I hope you're right…" Casey quickly slapped Derek on his arm. "That's for not using protection and letting me forget to use it!"

"I'm sorry Casey, there's nothing we can do about it now other than to have the baby and tell our parents. Not in that particular order, of course."

"Yeah, but my stepdad's probably going to be angry."

"I'm sure he won't be. My stepmom will probably not be too entirely thrilled about it but since it doesn't really affect her…"

"Yeah, maybe she won't worry about it so much. You're really being supportive of this, Derek."

"Hey, it's a beautiful baby child you have in here…" Derek placed his hand on Casey's abdomen and smiled. "And I am the father!"

"Yeah, I never would have thought this would happen."

"So I guess you never talked to your mom about being pregnant?"

"No, you're the first one I've told…but my family was talking about my sex life." Derek chuckled and shook his head.

"My family did the same thing. It was a little embarrassing."

"Great, and here we are about to tell them that they are right."

"We can make it through this, Casey. You won't believe how accepting my father is."

"I hope he's pretty accepting, though I don't know how my stepdad will respond."

"Well since he's not a father that has known you as he's grown up, he may just not kill me."

"I don't know."

"We can hope he doesn't kill me then…"

"Yeah, and I'll probably be let off the hook because I'm the girl. However, I think we're both in serious trouble now. Do you suppose your stepmom will accept me?"

"Well, she's never met you and…well I haven't met you just yet so we'll have to see what happens."

"Yeah, and you've never met my stepdad and I haven't met him at all either…I only hope he'll be accepting of the fact that his oldest stepdaughter will be pregnant."

"I believe we've established that he most likely will."

"Thank you, Derek for being so supportive, you're truly the best boyfriend ever."

"Why wouldn't I be supportive? I love you Casey."

"I love you too, Derek."

---------------

The day came that Derek would meet his stepmother and her families, he got all dressed up and ready for everything. He was also going to talk to his father about his girlfriend, he walked down the stairs and found his dad sitting on the couch. "Hey Dad, can I talk to you?" Derek asked.

"Yeah, what do you need?" George asked as he looked at his son. "Hey, you're looking nice!"

"Well, I do want to impress your new wife. Who wants to find her new husband with a messy son?"

"I wouldn't know. Usually it's your brother that dresses up for such an occasion."

"Right…"

"So, what did you want to talk about, my son?"

"I wanted to talk to you about my girlfriend, we actually would like for everyone to meet at the same time. Meaning, I want you to meet her family."

"It may have to wait…"

"No, I'm afraid it can't wait, dad. There's something really important that you need to know and I would like for you to be supportive if you can find that as a possibility."

"Sure, but what is wrong, son?"

"Well, my girlfriend recently found out that she's pregnant."

"Really, and who's the father?"

"What…dad!"

"I understand, you're the one, right?"

"Yeah, it's me. Of course, I really love her and she is the greatest girl in the world. She's going to have this child, that's what I say and that's what she wants."

"Right, so what's the problem?"

"Well for one thing her stepfather may desire to kill me. As a matter of fact, her mom's going to be getting married soon and we don't really know much of anything about her stepdad."

"So how do you know he'll be upset with you?"

"We don't, but a lot of fathers might be upset, even if they're a new father."

"Has she talked to her mom about it yet?"

"No, in fact we were going to set a date to tell our families at the same time. We want our families to support us if they can, of course she's afraid of what you will think. We're also afraid of what my soon to be stepmother will think as well. Such as, will she be so mad at my girlfriend that she throws her out or something? Will her new stepdad be so mad that he'll send me to a slaughterhouse?" George laughed and shook his head.

"I would say you're getting a little to worried about the reactions everyone will have, son."

"Well, I'm still keeping my cool about it, I'll admit I may be nervous but she's really more nervous than I am."

"So do you want my answer, bout whether I will be fine with this or not?"

"That would be the general idea, yeah dad." George and Derek looked over to see Edwin walk in the room.

"What are you two talking about?" Edwin asked.

"Sit down, your brother has-" Just then the doorbell rang and George looked over. "It looks like they're here…Well Derek, we'll have to talk about this afterwards, sorry about that. The food is all ready for them and everything is nicely set up so let's do this." George walked to the door and Edwin stood next to him, Derek stared into space for a quick second before standing up. George opened the door and Nora was the first to walk in.

"Hello, I'm Nora, it's a pleasure to meet you," Nora stated as she shook Edwin's hand and gave George a peck on the cheek. Derek looked over and smiled as Marti ran into the room.

"Wow this is a big house!" Marti exclaimed. Derek smiled and looked at her.

"You're pretty smart," Derek said with a small chuckle.

"My name's Marti by the way!"

"Wow, a Smarti then." Lizzie soon walked in the door and shook everyone's hands.

"Casey's still getting something from the car," Lizzie said with a chuckle.

"Well don't worry about that, come sit down," Nora said with a smile. Derek raised his eyebrow and shrugged the mention of Casey's name off as a coincidence.

"I'm Derek it's nice to meet you-" Derek stopped talking and stared at the doorway, Casey had stepped in and was staring at Derek with her mouth ajar._"Casey?"_

_"What the hell is my boyfriend doing here!" _ Casey thought.

"What's wrong you two, let's go eat!" George said with a smile as everyone else walked into the kitchen leaving Derek and Casey staring at each other.

"I don't believe this," Casey said with shock on her face.

"We're about to become stepsiblings," Derek stated. "Oh boy…"

"What are we going to do now?" Casey asked.

"I have no clue, we have to tell them but should we tell them now?"

"I'm not sure…This is going to be a happy night for them…" Nora's head appeared from the kitchen and she looked at the two.

"Come on you guys," Nora said. "You can get to know each other while we eat supper!"

"Okay, we're coming!"

_"Of course we already know quite a bit about each other,"_ They thought as they walked into the kitchen.

"Well Nora, it seems that my son is interested in getting to know your daughter," George said with a smile.

"I would say the same." Derek and Casey looked at each other and chuckled slightly as they sat down at the table.

_"This is going to be a long night."_

* * *

There's the oneshot it's done. There is a small chance of this continuing but since I really don't know how I would go about continuing such a story and I'm not a major and devoted fan of the show, it's a oneshot for now. I hope you've enjoyed it, please let me know what you think of it!_  
_


	2. Author Note

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: I didn't see this story on here so I had to write it up. It's an oneshot of course. This is before the very first episode of course

* * *

I may continue this story but if I did, I first need people who want it to be continued and I would have to change the plot around a bit in order to make it successful. I need a few reviews from people who would like this to be continued and people who will follow the story. 


	3. Suppertime

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in_Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font. Okay, since I've had quite a few people wanting it to be continued, it will be continued as such. It has also been brought to my attention that Marti was George's biological daughter. I'm going to ignore this little detail as of now because from here, Marti will be seen in George's household and the combined family. The rating may also be upped to a 'T' rating if I feel the need.

* * *

Chapter 2 (Suppertime)

Derek and Casey sat at the table and ate the food, both thinking of what they were going to do. _"How am I supposed to think of her now?"_ Derek thought as he glanced over at Casey. _"She's beautiful but she's going to be my sister now…Not only that but she's pregnant."_ Derek started to cough and he quickly grabbed his drink and started to drink at a rapid pace.

"Derek, are you alright?" George asked as he looked over to his son. Derek held up his hand and nodded.

"Yeah, no problems at all, dad." Derek stuck his fork into his food and shoved it into his mouth and chewed, Casey looked over at Derek with a worried look in her eyes.

_"I know he's probably thinking about how to talk to mom and George but I do need to tell him something before he mentions anything,"_ Casey thought as she took a sip of her drink.

"So, Derek, what do you think of Nora, Casey and Lizzie?" George asked. Derek looked up and grinned.

"What do I think of them? I love them!" Derek said and Casey stifled a laugh that she felt creeping up her throat.

"Well that's great, Edwin, Marti, how about you two?"

"Eh, they're okay," Edwin said as he took another bite of his food.

"Only, okay!" Lizzie said quickly. "That's _all_ you have to say!"

"Well, we're just getting to know you, but I like you."

"I like everyone!" Marti said with a grin.

"I'm glad you like them," George said with a smile.

"Casey, Lizzie, what about you two?" Nora asked.

"They're _okay_, I think I could manage to get along with them," Lizzie stated. Edwin narrowed his eyes and looked over at Lizzie.

"One of these days," Edwin muttered under his breath.

"I-I could see myself living with them," Casey said with a smile.

"Good, because we have some more news," George and Nora said with a smile.

"What is that?" Derek and Casey glanced at their food and over at George and Nora.

"Well, we're getting married in a week!" Derek coughed and Casey kept her stoic look.

"Great, I'm really happy!" Casey said as she quickly looked over at Derek. "You, you're Derek, correct?"

"Uh, yeah, what's up?" Derek asked as he looked up at Casey.

"I need to talk with you!" Casey stood up and grabbed Derek's arm. "May we be excused?" George and Nora raised their eyebrows and shrugged.

"Yeah, go ahead," George stated.

"Thank you!" Derek and Casey walked out of the kitchen and into Derek's room. "What the hell are we going to do!"

"Calm down, Casey," Derek said as he closed the door. "Just take a deep breath and relax."

"Yeah, well it's not that bad."

"Casey, what are you talking about? We're about to become stepsiblings and you're pregnant!"

"Actually, I'm not…"

"What?" Derek raised his eyebrow as Casey sat on the bed.

"I'm not pregnant. The test was wrong, that's what I believe because I took the test a second time and it revealed that I was not pregnant."

"Well okay, that relieves things. Only, I told my dad that you were."

"Oh, well you're going to have to tell him that your girlfriend's not pregnant. Only, what do we do now, do we continue dating each other?"

"I don't know…"

"I don't think we can, we'd be related."

"Yeah, good point." Derek sighed and looked to the ground. "Here's what you can do, call for me and I'll answer, you can go downstairs and continue eating while I talk to my 'girlfriend' and then I'll come down and tell them you're not pregnant."

"Okay, that's a good idea. I l…Let's do that." Casey pulled out her cell phone and dialed the home number, she waited until George answered the phone. That was good since George wasn't too familiar with her voice.

"Hello, who is calling?" George asked.

"This is Derek's girlfriend, may I speak to Derek please?"

"Yes." They waited until they heard George shout from downstairs that Derek had a phone call. Casey looked at Derek one last time with longing and desire in her eyes, she closed her eyes and walked out of the room. She wiped her eyes to avoid any tears that were falling, but it was difficult to do. She sat at the table and everyone looked at her.

"Are you alright, Casey?" Nora asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Casey said with a smile. "There is nothing wrong at all."

"Okay then, I do hope you and Derek didn't have a fight or anything."

"No, we didn't…"

"So why are you crying?" Lizzie asked. "What happened to make you cry?"

"I…I got a call from my boyfriend and he broke up with me."

"What!" Nora exclaimed with shock.

"Wow, your perfect boyfriend broke up with you?" Lizzie asked. "That's too bad."

"Yeah well he said that something really big and unexpected happened that would cause us to not be able to continue our relationship."

"He didn't happen to mention what caused this, did he?" Nora asked.

"No, he didn't make any mention to what it was." Casey sighed and stared at her food. _"How could we possibly tell you that you're the reason for this happening? There's no way to reveal it without what I'm sure is something catastrophic happening."_ Casey looked over to see Derek walk in the kitchen and sit down at the table.

"So, what did your girlfriend want?" George asked. Derek looked down at his meal sadly.

"Well, she told me that she wasn't pregnant, which is a good thing," Derek said quietly.

"So why are you sad?"

"I'm not sad, but I'm just shocked, I was getting so ready for it. I was actually going to take the responsibility of asking her to marry me so we could raise the baby together."

"You were going to propose to m-your girlfriend?" Casey asked as she looked over at Derek. Derek just stared at his food, a silent acknowledgement that he had intended to do so. Only he didn't say 'yes' because he knew that if he did, Casey's heart would break even harder than it already was.

"You're girlfriend was pregnant!" Edwin exclaimed as he dropped his fork onto the plate.

"Well, she's not, so she never was, I guess," Derek responded.

"Well I'm sorry if things didn't turn out exactly…it _is_ a good thing, isn't it?"

"Oh trust me, dad, it's definitely not a bad thing. All things considered, be glad she's not pregnant." Derek smiled and nodded his head as he rubbed his forehead. _"Suddenly, I'm not so hungry."_ Derek and Casey both stared at their food while the rest of the family continued to eat. Both Derek and Casey were wishing that a dog would suddenly appear for them.

"Are you two sure nothing is wrong?" Edwin asked as he finished his food.

"Yeah, you're food isn't even finished yet," Lizzie stated.

"We're all about to go play a game, but you haven't touched your food yet…"

"You go ahead and play it," Derek said. "I'll sit here and finish."

"Are you sure? We were going to play backyard dodgeball," George said with a chuckle. "Don't you want to play that?"

"I will when I'm done eating."

"So, Casey, are you going to play with us all?" Lizzie asked. Casey stared at her food and shook her head.

"I'll finish eating my food." Everyone nodded as they stood up and took their plates to the sink.

"Well if you're interested in coming out to play then we'll be outside," Nora said with a smile as everyone left.

"So…Derek…What are we going to tell them?" Casey asked as she looked over at Derek.

"I don't really know, Casey. We don't want to ruin anything or mess anything up, that's for sure."

"I suppose it's a good thing I tested again, do you think we should stop seeing each other?"

"I don't know."

"I don't want to stop seeing each other but I also know that I don't want to mess things up for mom and George. Wouldn't it be awkward now?"

"Do you think it would be awkward?"

"I don't know…It'd be like dating a brother."

"Yeah, there are certain things wrong with dating a sister. I see nothing around this. All I know is that we may have to stop sleeping with each other."

"Yeah…Well, we are kind of young to be sleeping with each other."

"Yeah…Weren't you throwing up a lot though?"

"I diagnosed it as just a little stomach virus."

"Okay, that makes it a little better I suppose. I mean, I'll admit that I was sort of looking forward to it."

"I think you would have made a good father, Derek."

"You would have mad a great mother."

"I guess it ends here then."

"I suppose it does. Do you think we should not tell them that we've actually been dating?

"I think we should just leave it at that. There's no use in telling them and I just feel like dating a stepsibling would be wrong."

"I guess I agree with you, Casey."

"How are we honestly going to get along with each other now?"

"I'm sure we'll think of something. Just finish your food and I'll finish mine. Do you want to go out and play with the others?"

"No, I'm not really feeling like it."

"Me either, I'm…going to be in my room." Derek took his plate and left the kitchen, Casey stared at her food for a second before putting her arms on the table and sobbing into her arms.

* * *

There's the chapter, hope you guys enjoyed it. I'll think of how to write the next one and it will be up soon! 


	4. The Plan

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in_Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 3 (The Plan)

"Casey, could you please come here?" Derek asked as his head poked from the around the wall. Casey lifted her head and smiled as she walked over to Derek. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "I was talking in case anyone was listening, could you come to my room and we can make sure nobody is listening in."

"Okay." Casey followed Derek to his room and sat down on his bed as he closed the door and let out a sigh.

"Okay Casey, I don't like this as much as you, but we have to think of something. I don't want to stop dating you."

"Me either…"

"This box…" Derek opened a drawer and pulled out a black box. "Has something inside of it that I was planning to give to you since you were pregnant. It appears you're not, but I see no reason to stop dating."

"I see no reason to stop either, but how will it affect the family?"

"We'll just…date in secret I guess."

"It's still going to feel awkward."

"I know, but there's nothing we can do about that. Well, all we _can_ do is try to make the best of an awkward situation and move past it." Derek rubbed his forehead and sighed, "So we can act like we hate each other's guts I guess."

"Yeah, I don't know how that will work out."

"It's just going to have to be that way, but look; I will always love you no matter what. Even if it's creepy like this, we'll still figure something out to make everything be okay."

"Derek, how will we make this work out? How will we make it secret? I mean, surely something is bound to mess up."

"If something goes wrong, I'll think of a way to fix it." Casey raised her eyebrow and chuckled.

"You can't fix everything, you know."

"Yeah, but I can definitely try."

"How I wish this wasn't happening like this. How did we not see this?"

"Our parents never told us what was happening. Heh, at least we don't need to meet the families, actually we're going to have to think of a way around that."

"I told them that we broke up."

"It would look suspicious if you never had a boyfriend; you do realize that, right?"

"Yeah but it can't be all that bad, can it?"

"Well I don't know, maybe we can think of a way around that as well. Of course whenever I have to go on a date with my girlfriend and you keep disappearing, won't it just look even more suspicious?"

"Wouldn't it look suspicious if we both kept going on dates at the same time?"

"Good point, so how the hell do we work this one out?"

"I don't know…Should we deal with finding out how to keep it secret from out parents?"

"We probably should keep it from our friends as well." Derek rubbed his chin and sighed. "If we act like we hate each other, it will keep people from getting overly suspicious."

"I don't know how I'll ever be able to act like I hate you, I mean, that's a long way to go."

"Yeah, but we'd just have to handle that. I'm sure it won't be hard for you though, who knows. All we know is that you're perfect and there's the basis for my pranks and other stuff."

"Right…"

"I'll just be annoying and something you love to hate and love to make up with after every fight."

"Yeah, but no sex, I was afraid that I had been two months pregnant, I'd rather not wind up pregnant when mom and George are actually married. Then it will look bad and I don't know _what_ we will do then."

"Yeah, that's true. We would have to figure that…Casey you're not pregnant so don't worry about that!"

"Sorry, you're right we shouldn't focus on things that are not an issue right now."

"Pregnancy is not going to become an issue whatsoever." They heard a knock on the door and Derek opened the door to reveal Marti standing in the doorway.

"Derek, what are you and Casey talking about?"

"We were talking about how this would affect school and stuff." Derek looked over at Casey and winked. "I mean a Ms. Perfect, know it all living in _this_ house, it's unheard of!"

"Oh yeah, is that so!" Casey exclaimed. "Well look at how messy your damn room is! I don't even know why I'm I here, I can't stand the smell!" Casey groaned loudly and Marti chuckled.

"That's something to get used to," Marti said as she shook her head.

"I happen to enjoy the manliness of my room, if you're too female to handle it, then I'm _so_ sorry," Derek stated.

"Oh, female is it? So what is your perspective on females you chauvinist!"

"Well, you're definitely too uptight to not be one of those stuck up females, that's for sure!"

"Uptight, you think _I'm_ the uptight one around here? I'm _far_ from uptight!" Casey began poking Derek in the chest and he slowly backed up against the wall and chuckled. "In fact, you only think I'm a little Miss Perfect because I happen to get good grades. Unlike you, I happen to _care_ about my grades! Oh yeah, I've seen your grades in class and I've seen those friends you've hung around, talk about a bad influence, I can't believe that you would hang around such people! Do you even study?"

"Well I'm sorry if you think I don't study, I'm sorry I can't be like you and study twenty four hours a day! I actually have a life Casey McDonald!"

"A life, you don't have a life and you never will have a life!" Marti raised her eyebrow and whistled a tune as Derek and Casey glared at each other.

"Well, I'm going to go now," Marti said with a nervous chuckle. "I think they're waiting for me outside…"

"Did you want something, Marti?" Derek asked.

"What? No, I…didn't need anything at all! I was just checking to see if you finished your dinner and wanted to play but I can see that you probably don't. Yeah, I'm going now, bye!" Marti walked away and Derek looked over at Casey who was breathing heavily and staring into his eyes.

"That was a very,_very_ believable act; Casey…Is there really anything wrong with my friends?" Casey closed the door with the heel of her foot. "Uh…Casey, is there something wrong? You know, you look cute when you look angry and fierce. I've also always thought you looked cute when mad…"

"Thanks, Derek." Casey let out a low, lustful growl and wrapped her arms around Derek's neck and swiftly brought her lips to his and pushed him to the bed. They started to make out and after about a minute, Casey lifted her head from Derek.

"Wow, Casey, that was…great! Exactly what brought that on?"

"I felt like I needed to do that. You don't know how hard it was keeping a stoic face."

"Oh yeah, we definitely want to keep straight faces when around our family."

"Derek, I love everything about you, even your friends!"

"Ah, so that's an honor for you to have mentioned them." Derek smirked and touched his finger to Casey's nose, he then lifted his head and kissed Casey's lips once more. "I think Marti pretty much thinks we hate each other, or at least you hate me."

"Yeah, but it's really hard to actually get all mad at you and not resist kissing you."

"What can I say? I'm a kissable kind of guy!" Casey chuckled and lay on the bed beside Derek; she placed her hand on his chest and sighed.

"Yes you are, Derek. It's probably going to be very difficult to act like I hate you though."

"We _have_ had fights before; you just need to get in that mood whenever I annoy you."

"Yeah, good point." Casey nuzzled her head into Derek's neck and sighed. Derek kissed her head and breathed in her scent.

"Might I say that perfume smells wonderful on you and you look beautiful tonight?"

"I dressed to impress."

"Well I am truly impressed!"

"Yeah, I can see you dressed up somewhat."

"You have to look good when meeting people. So how are we going to explain meeting the family?"

"Well, I have a friend that could act as your girlfriend for a day, her name's Emily, you know her."

"Yeah, I have met her before." Derek put his arms behind his head and sighed. "My friend Max could act as your boyfriend for the day that you need a boyfriend to meet your parents."

"I haven't met him before?"

"He's a new friend, but he's trustworthy enough and is a pretty good actor. When the day comes that you need to introduce your boyfriend to mom and dad then he will gladly meet them."

"I'm not sure if that idea is so great though, with Max and Emily."

"Why, do you think something bad will happen?"

"I don't know. It just feels weird."

"Yeah, it feels like we're lying to our parents, but we can't reveal that we're together because our parents might not want to be together. I don't want to deny them their happiness."

"You're right, I don't want to do that either, so I'm with you."

"That's great, so do you want to go play dodgeball outside with the others?"

"Yeah, let's go before someone else comes to the door and sees us in a compromising position." Derek chuckled and kissed Casey as they got off the bed.

"Well Casey, I hope you're in for a good game because you are going down."

"No, you're going down. I'm going to really enjoy that." Casey smirked and Derek closed his eyes.

"Whoa, I don't know if you intended to or not, but lets try to lay off the innuendo, shall we? It can be _very_ tempting." Casey rolled her eyes and chuckled as she left the room, Derek soon followed.

* * *

There's the chapter, I hope you enjoyed. I'm not sure how long this will be but I'm sure you'll be satisfied! 


	5. Intimacy

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in_Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

A/N: Okay it appears I'm still getting people who think Casey is pregnant. For the record and to clear any confusion, Casey is _not_ known to be pregnant at this moment of time.

* * *

Chapter 4 (Intimacy)

Soon the day came for George, Nora and the others to all meet Derek's girlfriend. Emily was reluctant and did not understand why she had to act as though she was Derek's girlfriend. "Just trust me, Emily, everything will be fine!" Casey said with a smile. "You needn't worry about a thing, it's not like you're really his girlfriend or anything."

"Well, it's not like I _want_ to be his girlfriend!" Emily said quickly. "I mean, you know how he is!" Casey stared straight ahead and raised her eyebrow.

"Yeah that's true and he's very ro…disgusting. I mean, you haven't seen his room or anything, but hey, you don't have to!" Casey narrowed her eyes and her voice took a flat tone. "You don't have to live with him."

"Well yeah, that's true, I feel so bad for you girl!"

"Don't feel bad, it's life."

"Yeah, you guys are just siblings…"

"Yeah, don't say that word when referring to me or Derek. I honestly hate that word because it just tells me how much I have to live with the most irritating and disgusting man on the face of this planet!" Casey made a gagging sound and looked away. _"At least she's buying the act; it would look so bad if my friends found out that my lover was my brother. They wouldn't understand the whole step sibling, non blood related, concept anyhow."_

"You know something; your mind seems really wrapped up in something today. You've kind of been zoning out every now and then. I'm getting worried about you!"

"You don't _need_ to be worried about me. I'm just fine, a little interested in how this is going to turn out but nevertheless, I am fine."

"Yeah, well I'm not, I'm not thrilled with being your brother's girlfriend."

"You're _not_ his girlfriend." Casey sighed and rolled her eyes. "You're just a girl pretending to be his girlfriend."

"Well hey; you're lucky _you_ don't have to be his girlfriend!" Casey resisted the urge to laugh at the statement. She wouldn't think of herself as being lucky if she wasn't his girlfriend, she was happy being the only girl on Derek's mind. He was actually cleaner than people thought; of course both of them had to put on a façade every day.

"You think being his girlfriend is a _bad_ thing?"

"Girl, you try it and tell me how it is!"

"Eh, I wouldn't know."

"Yeah, I know you wouldn't know! You wouldn't date him if your life depended on it or even if your parent's weren't getting married!" Casey smirked as they walked into the house. "Somehow, I just don't think you'd do all that well if you dated him."

"You make it seem like he's this really bad, horrible, smelly, jerk of a person."

"Actually it's more you that tends to do that. I don't have anything to do with the image that he has."

"I suppose you're right…"

"Yeah and why are_you_ doing the same thing he's doing anyway?"

"What? Pretending to be dating someone I'm not?"

"Yes! That just doesn't sit right with me."

"Well, I don't know. I just feel like doing that. Who knows if I might wind up getting a real boyfriend out of all this? I doubt it, but hey, you never really know."

"Yeah well if you do have a real boyfriend out of all this, let me know."

"Right…" Casey looked around the house and sighed. "Hey Derek, she's here!"

"Whoa, not so loud next time Casey," Derek said as he walked into the room. He walked over to Emily and smiled. "How are you, you're Emily, right?"

"Yeah, that's my name." Derek looked over and saw George, Nora, Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti come into the room. _"Okay, all of them at once. I can handle this."_ Derek smiled and wrapped his arm around Emily's shoulders. "Guys this is my girlfriend!"

"So you've been dating for two years now?" George asked.

"Just a little over two years, yes."

"Cool, she looks cute," Nora said with a smile.

"Yeah, she's even cuter than you described her!" George stated with a chuckle. Derek chuckled nervously and glanced over at Casey then to Emily and back to Casey.

_"How is she cuter than my real girlfriend?"_ Derek thought as he shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, she's real cute!"

"Heh, my name is Emily, it's a pleasure to meet all of you," Emily said with a smile.

"You know we had a real scare the other day when Derek thought you were actually pregnant!" George stated.

"Dad, you don't need to mention that," Derek said with a sigh. "Yeah, my girlfriend isn't pregnant." Casey crossed her arms and chuckled._"It's a damn good thing Casey's not really pregnant either. Otherwise we'd have a lot more explaining to do."_ Edwin and Lizzie crossed their arms and looked over at Derek.

"If she's your girlfriend, do something intimate with her," Edwin said as he raised his eyebrow.

"Intimate?" Derek, Casey and Emily all asked. Edwin and Lizzie glanced over at Casey and she shrugged.

_"Think fast Casey; don't let them know that you're actually his real girlfriend!"_ Casey took a breath and shook her head. "Why would you be asking your own brother to do something intimate with his girlfriend, do you not believe that's his girlfriend or something?" Casey asked. _"Yeah, smooth move that still doesn't sound good enough!"_ Casey glanced over at Derek. "I mean, when is it your business to tell him to do something intimate…though you do pose a good point." Casey smirked and Derek raised his eyebrow. She crossed her arms and turned to Derek. "They're_right_, you haven't done anything but drape your arm over her shoulder as if she was nothing to you. Do something intimate with her, Derek. I'm not saying to go so far as to French kiss her or anything but show us that she's your girlfriend."

"Yeah, we want to see you in action with your girlfriend!" Edwin said quickly. Lizzie nodded in return and Derek narrowed his eyes.

"I am _so_ going to get you after this, Casey," Derek said as he glared at her. She smirked and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, whatever, I'm just as interested as all of them in why all you seem to be doing is draping your arm over her shoulder as if she was just a mere acquaintance."

"Well, she is my girlfriend, what exactly do you want me to do?"

"_Anything,_ do whatever you like, Derek!"

"Right…my word isn't enough, dear sister?"

"Not for us!" Lizzie said quickly. "We haven't seen anything yet." George and Nora looked over at Edwin and Lizzie.

"_Why_ are you two so concerned?" George asked. "We believe this is his girlfriend."

"_Thank you,_ Dad!" Derek said quickly. "Thank you for sticking up for your son!"

"You're welcome Derek."

"Oh come on, we just wanted to see some action!" Edwin said quickly. Derek blinked and rolled his eyes. Emily smiled and crossed her arms.

"It was a pleasure to meet all of you!" Emily said quickly. "I had a _lot_ of fun talking to you, but as I told Derek, I don't have a whole lot of time. I actually have to go; my family eats supper in fifteen minutes…"

"It was good meeting you," George said with a smile. Emily nodded and left the house, everyone stared at Edwin and Lizzie. "Do you realize that you've made Derek's girlfriend feel uncomfortable?"

_"He will never know just how true that statement is,"_ Casey said with a sigh._"I can't believe I was a part of that too…but I had to make a cover. That really did feel uncomfortable actually. It'd be best not to start feeling uncomfortable, but the whole 'intimate' statement just came as a shock. Since when do they want to see something intimate? I hope nothing happens with Max."_

----------------------------

"Nice one, Casey," Derek said with a chuckle as they sat in his room. "That was a nice save there; I think it'd be best if you don't join in the chorus of shocked people responding to an intimacy question though."

"Hah, hah, you're very funny, Derek." Casey sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I really did feel uncomfortable, I'm so sorry if I made you uncomfortable as well." Derek smiled and stood behind her; he placed his hands on her shoulders and started to massage them.

"Don't worry about that, I'm over it." Casey sighed and batted her eyelids.

"You have great hands, Derek."

"Somehow, you always say that when we're together."

"Ooh…okay, that's it; I'm going to massage you next!"

"Alright, that's fine by me." Derek and Casey switched positions and Casey smoothed her hands gracefully over Derek's shoulders. "Wow, you're a pretty good masseuse."

"Thanks Derek, I learned from the best." Casey lowered her head next to Derek and started to kiss his neck.

"Hey now, that's my job."

"Are you _sure_ that I can't be the one to seduce you this time around?"

"Just remember, it can't go so far that you actually get pregnant, that's a risk we can't take anymore."

"That sucks…"

"I know, but we all have to make sacrifices."

"Yeah, so what do you think will happen when they meet Max as my boyfriend?"

_"I'm keeping a close watch on him…"_ Derek shrugged and crossed his arms. "I really don't know what will happen. I think at most, they'll probably wind up running him off like they did with Emily and that will be the end of that."

"Yeah, maybe so, I'll try not to make you feel uncomfortable by the way."

"I don't think that will be happening, Casey." Derek stood up and smirked. "For you to actually get _me_ feeling uncomfortable, it just doesn't sound right."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll see what happens when it happens." Derek chuckled and kissed Casey on the lips.


	6. Real Boyfriend VS Fake Boyfriend

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in_Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

Chapter 5 (Real Boyfriend VS Fake)

* * *

_"For some odd reason, I really feel like Sam should play the boyfriend,"_ Derek thought as he crossed his arms and sat on the couch. "Too late to change the boyfriend for her now…"

"What was that, Derek?" Edwin asked as he sat on the couch.

"Nothing, I was talking about my prediction for the show I was about to watch."

"What show is that?"

"That would be a soap opera."

"You _don't_ like soap operas…" Edwin raised his eyebrow and Derek shrugged.

"So my girlfriend got me into them, as temporary as it is."

"Oh, you mean that girl you brought home the other day?"

"You _do_ know how uncomfortable you made my girlfriend feel, right?" Derek sighed, at least that much was true. Derek heard soft footsteps coming down the stairs, he recognized them as Casey's.

"Hey Derek, have you seen my-"

"Casey, come watch a soap opera with me and _Edwin!"_ Casey coughed and shifted her eyes to Edwin then Derek.

"My homework, have you seen my homework!" Edwin raised his eyebrow and looked at Casey. Derek smirked and pulled out a sheet of paper, he blew his nose on it and lifted it in the air.

"Do you mean_this?"_

"Derek! That better not be my homework or you're going to get it big time!"

"As much as I'd enjoy seeing what you would try to do to me, I don't think that'll be happening. Also, why are you concerned about your homework when your boyfriend, _Max_ is going to be meeting your family tonight?"

"My homework is due tomorrow, Derek!"

"Uh, Casey, I think Derek is just messing with you," Edwin said as he crossed his arms over. "That paper was blank."

"Oh, well in that case, be lucky, Derek!"

"Oh yea, I'm so afraid of what you'd do to me," Derek said with a laugh. Casey growled and stepped in front of him.

"You _don't_ want to tempt me!" Derek flashed a smirk for a second and stood up.

"Maybe I _do_ want to tempt you. Besides, you can't do a thing to me and you know it!"

"Shut up!" Casey's eyes moved over his face and body, she quickly crossed her arms and turned around. _"Damn it's hard to resist kissing that cute face of his."_

_"At times like these it's really difficult to resist jumping in and making out with her. Yet, I can't let Edwin or anyone else see that we actually are dating."_ The doorbell rang and Derek looked over towards the door. "That'll be your boyfriend and I will be in my room."

"Don't you want to meet Casey's boyfriend?" Lizzie asked as she walked down the stairs.

"_Why_ should I care about her boyfriend?"

"I don't know, I just thought you would." Derek shrugged and walked upstairs toward his room. Casey opened the door and Max wrapped his arms around Casey's waist.

"Hey Casey, how are you!" Max said with a smile.

"I-I'm good, and you?" Casey quickly brushed Max's arms off of her and pulled him over to the couch. "Let's have a seat!" George, Nora, and Marti walked in from another room and smiled. "Hey guys, this is Max."

"Hello Max, how are you?" George asked.

"I'm very good," Max said with a smile.

"So I hear you're Casey's boyfriend."

"Yep, I got this babe all to myself." Max put his arm around Casey's shoulder and Derek's head appeared from the top of the stairs.

_"Tell me I didn't just hear that,"_ Derek thought as his eyes narrowed. Derek crossed his arms and walked halfway down the stairs.

"Uh, Max, sweetie, could you not call me that?" Casey asked.

_"Yes, please don't call her that."_ Derek rested his hand on the railing and felt his hand tighten. _"Come on George, be a father, don't let him call your stepdaughter that."_

_"As long as they don't ask…"_

"So you don't mind showing that you're actually dating, do you?" Lizzie asked with a smirk. Derek narrowed his eyes and stared at the notepad in Edwin's hands.

"Actually…" Casey was cut off by Max grinning and quickly crashing his lips into hers. "Crap, no!"

"Wow, I guess they really are dating." Derek's eye's widened and his eyebrow twitched, he noticed that Casey was trying to push Max off of her.

"Damn it!" Derek exclaimed as he jumped over the railing and grabbed Max, he quickly pulled Max off of Casey and threw him into a chair. "Did you not notice her _trying_ to get you off of her?" Derek quickly pointed at Edwin. "Also, will you two please stop trying to prove someone's relationships? Did you not notice that your sister wasn't ready or willing for that! You made my girlfriend _very_ uncomfortable the other day, so cut that out!"

"Gee Derek, calm down," Max said with a chuckle. "It's not like she's-"

"You can shut up now; you don't need to be making out with my stepsister in her own home!"

"Hey, they asked."

"She didn't."

"Okay, fine, I'm sorry…" Derek crossed his arms and sat in a chair.

"No funny moves this time, Max." Casey raised her eyebrow and held her breath for a moment. "How about this, while she's in her home, how about you keep your hands off of her? What do you say, Max?"

"Well she's my girlfriend…"

"Yeah, and you sure know how to treat your girlfriend. Have you ever heard of manners when meeting the girl's family?"

"Have you?"

"I've already met my girlfriend's family and she's met mine. I know how to respect Emily and keep things clean when with her family." Derek glanced over at Casey and saw she was staring back at him; he let out a sigh and shook his head. "How about for the rest of the night, you try to keep your hands in the appropriate places."

"How about you try not telling me how to act with my girlfriend?" Derek raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms. He slowly stood up and walked toward the front door, he gestured with his hand for Max to follow him outside.

"Let's talk." Max shrugged and walked outside with Derek, everyone else stayed in the house and looked at each other while Casey tried to look inconspicuous as she worried about Derek. Derek and Max stood outside in between the houses, Derek crossed his arms and stared at Max. "You know the deal was that you were only supposed to act like Casey's boyfriend, you're getting a little too far into that act. I don't think she feels uncomfortable."

"Hey, you and Casey were the ones that asked me to be her boyfriend."

"I believe our exact words were 'act like her boyfriend' and that was it. Making out with her in front of her family was _not_ a part of the act."

"You know what; I don't think you really need to tell me how to act."

"You know, you're really starting to piss me off."

"Well that's too damn bad. You need to stop trying to tell me how to act with my girlfriend."

"Dude, she is _not_ your girlfriend!"

"You asked me to be her girlfriend so she is!" Max shoved Derek against the wall and glared at him. "So you don't need to tell me how to act with her!"

"Get off of me!" Derek shoved Max off of him and started to walk back toward the house. Max growled and charged toward Derek, Derek looked over in time to be punched in the face. "Ah! Damn it!"

"That'll teach you to mess with my girlfriend."

"_Excuse_ me? Okay you bastard, you're getting a little too deep in the acting."

"Max, Derek! Are you two coming back in?" Casey asked as she stepped out of the door. Max looked over and groaned.

"I'm going back home, your brother got too annoying."

"Derek what did you do!"

"Aw leave me alone, I'm going through the back and to my room," Derek said as he walked around the house. Casey closed the door and looked at her family, she had a tear rolling down her face.

"What happened?" Lizzie asked.

"Derek ruined my perfect night with my boyfriend, that's what happened!" Casey exclaimed as she ran up the stairs.

"Casey!" Nora exclaimed as she stood up. George put his hand on Nora's shoulder and sighed.

"Give her time, I'm not sure what just happened but I was about to ask Max to go back home," George said quietly.

--------------------

Derek lay on the bed and groaned, "Damn it."

"Derek, are you okay?" Casey asked as she walked into the room and closed the door behind her. She locked the door and sat on the bed next to Derek. Her eyes widened when she looked at Derek's face. "What did he do to you? You have a black eye!"

"Yeah, that lousy bastard is too far into the act…"

"Derek, what you did tonight could have risked our secret."

"I wouldn't have cared. That bastard touched you."

"He only kissed me…"

"Well what if I didn't stop him."

"I think George or mom would have stopped him if he started to feel me up."

"Yeah, they probably would have." Casey chuckled and put her hand to the side of Derek's face.

"Derek, I love that you were worried about me, but maybe you were too worried. Look what happened to you." Derek placed his hands on the sides of Casey's waist as she moved to the top of him.

"It's just a black eye, nothing to worry about. I was about to kick his ass actually."

"Derek, I don't think I would have been happy to see you with worse than a black eye. If you and Max got into a fight I think both of you would be worse off. I hate seeing you hurt, Derek, don't make me worry like that."

"Okay Casey, I won't let you worry like that." Derek pulled her toward him and kissed her; he smiled and brushed Casey's hair behind her ear. "You are so beautiful, Casey."

"Yeah, and you're my handsome hero."

"Heh, that's rather cute. So, do they know if you're in your room or not?"

"Yeah, I locked my door and I have my key with me."

"That's good; I'll open the door and make sure the coast is clear for you to make a run for it. It's probably going to be difficult to actually do much in this house most likely but we can try."

"Have you noticed Edwin and Lizzie starting to act…"

"Suspicious? Yeah, I've noticed it. We're just going to have to act around that. Next time we have to have anyone act like your boyfriend, I'm going to have Sam do it."

"Okay, I like the sound of that better, I've actually met Sam before, he's respectable."

"Yeah, let's hope there are no more future problems with Max."

* * *

Well, I hope you liked it! 


	7. Discussing Max

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in_Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 6 (Discussing Max)

Derek pulled Casey by the window and looked out, he smiled and pointed to the side, "I'm going to attach a ladder to the house. That way whenever one of us is in here and we need to escape, we can easily get out."

"I suppose, I see your point," Casey said with a nod. "I wouldn't want to get stuck in here when someone comes in or something."

"That's the reason there's a lock on the doors, so nobody comes in at a bad moment and they must knock on the door."

"I'd say that sounds like a great idea, oh, and you're not hurt from jumping over the handrail on the stairs, are you?"

"It wasn't that much of a jump, and no, I don't get hurt that easily." Derek smirked and Casey rolled her eyes.

"Don't develop too much of an ego, Derek."

"Ego, around here I'm known as the ego man."

"Yeah, I'm sure you are." Casey smirked and gave Derek a quick peck on the cheek.

"Oh, I only get a peck for making that joke?"

"Well you'll have to do more than make a remark like that if you want me to give you something more."

"Now, don't try to tempt me."

"Who said I was tempting you?" Casey raised her eyebrows and smiled.

"Okay, seducing then, don't try to seduce me, that's my job."

"It's your job to seduce yourself?" Derek chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"No, it's my job to seduce you, beautiful. Oh, and the next time someone calls you a 'babe' you give me permission to punch them, right?"

"I think you've already done that, haven't you?" Derek shook his head and crossed his arms.

"Well, I was_about_ to, but then you came out and stopped me from hitting Max."

"You hit him, he hits you back, then you attack once more and the chain continues until both of you are bruised and bloody and much more is suspected than what should be." Casey looked at the black eye on Derek's face and frowned. "At least that eye isn't_ that_ apparent."

"Well, if anyone asks, I was in a random fight with some guy."

"You know Max will probably say that you attacked him and whatnot."

"I do believe he was the one that struck first. It all went downhill from there and if he's smart, he won't mention anything. Besides, they'll ask me why we fought and what can I tell them? 'He was attacking my family and I chose to fight him.'"

"Yeah, that's only half truth though."

"Well I could say I was defending your honor but I don't think it would go over well while covering up our secret."

"No, it probably wouldn't. Yet, it doesn't matter really, secret or no secret, I love you Derek and I always will."

"I know, and I love you. I always said there was no other woman out there for me than you." Derek wrapped his arms around Casey's waist and pulled her close, he leaned forward and right when they could feel each other's breath flowing onto their lips they heard a knock on the door. _"Damn!"_ They quickly released each other and Casey dove next to the bed. "Uh…Who is it!"

"It's your dad; do you know where Casey is?" George asked.

"No, I don't know where she is, why? What happened?"

"She says you ruined her night with her boyfriend and she ran off somewhere."

"It sounded to me more like she said 'the guy' ruined her night with her boyfriend," Nora said from the other side of the door. "Of course, I wasn't listening all that well."

"Can we come in?"

"No!" Derek said quickly. "I'm…I'm not decent!"

"Oh, well okay then, when you come out of the room, would you help us look for Casey or at least talk to her?"

"Yeah, I can definitely….Why would I want to talk to Casey anyway?  
Who cares about what happened with her boyfriend, he was a jerk."

"Either way, we think you ruined her night with him and to be honest, we were going to throw him out of the house anyway."

"Well that's a good thing, a little late on your part though!"

"Sorry, you seem a bit upset with how he treated Casey."

"I don't really_care_ right now. However, I call a family meeting in the kitchen, so everyone meet me there in five minutes!"

"Uh…okay." Derek sighed as he heard the footsteps leave the hallway.

"That was a close one," Casey said with a chuckle. She stood up and smirked. "It sounds almost like you're a little jealous?"

"Why would I be jealous?"

"Max kissed me."

"I'm angry with Max, I'm not jealous because guess what."

"What?" Derek placed his hands on Casey's waist and smiled.

"He doesn't have you, _I_ do." Derek leaned forward and kissed Casey's lips with passion.

"Your kisses get better every time," Casey said with a subtle moan.

"Thank you. Now, I'm going to go talk to the family in the kitchen, will you be showing up?"

"I probably should…"

"I think so." Derek and Casey walked over to the door, Casey stood with her back pressed against the wall next to the door as Derek opened it and looked out. "The coast is clear, go toward your room, quickly." Casey nodded and hurried out of Derek's room and into hers, Derek slipped out of his room and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Whoa! Where did you get that black eye!" George exclaimed when he looked at Derek.

"Isn't it obvious?" Derek asked as he raised his eyebrow. "I was trying to talk rationally with Max and the guy punched me before walking off."

"That's all that happened?" Edwin asked as he raised his eyebrow.

"No discussing relationship matters with Max over Casey?" Lizzie asked. Derek raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms.

_"Inquiring young minds…They apparently love observing things, if Casey and I are to remain in a relationship in secret, we'll have to be especially careful with these two."_ Derek looked over as Casey walked into the room, she put on an angry look and glared at Derek. "Ah Casey, how nice of you to join us, we were just talking about your boyfriend, Max."

"Yeah about Max, why the hell did you act like that tonight!" Casey shouted.

"I just _had_ to ruin your night."

"Yeah, why did you!"

"Maybe it's because I don't like you!"

"Here they go again," Edwin said with a sigh as he glanced over at Lizzie.

"Fighting once more," Lizzie said with a groan.

"Hardly seems second nature to me though…"

"Eh…" Lizzie crossed her arms and sighed. _"Sometimes it seems a little forced and they always look at each other as if their resisting something, only what that something is, I don't know."_ Edwin and Lizzie's eyes trailed up and down Derek and Casey's bodies. Casey was yelling at Derek and moving closer to him but staying a slight distance away, Derek would step back every now and then, lift his hands and put them back down. Sometimes he would stick his hands in his pocket and Casey would cross her arms and look away from Derek. They made a note that every time Casey looked at Derek her eyes would flash a different emotion for a split second and she would continually stare at the black eye that Derek had on his face. "Edwin, what is that in their eyes?"

"What, there's nothing in their eyes…" Edwin raised his eyebrow and looked at Derek's eyes and then at Casey's eyes.

"Guys, that's enough fighting!" George said quickly. Derek and Casey crossed their arms and turned toward George. "Seriously, it's like that's all you ever do!"

_"Oh you don't even have the slightest clue,"_ Derek thought as he inwardly smirked. "Well this woman gets on my nerves at every second."

"Can't you just get along at least once?" Nora asked. "Do I need to take you to a counselor or something?"

"No."

"There's no need for a counselor," Casey stated as she crossed her arms. "Besides, the school has a counselor I talk to."

"Yeah, but I'm sure he doesn't know how to help you with relationship issues," Edwin stated.

"I don't _have_ relationship issues." Derek scoffed and looked over at Casey.

"That's obviously not what we saw tonight. Max started kissing you and from my perspective it looked like you didn't want him doing that."

"Well what _I_ do is none of _your_ business!"

"Oh, I don't care _what_ you do, you can do whatever you want."

"Fine, I'll enjoy doing whatever I want if you'll gladly allow that!" Derek chuckled and shook his head.

"Okay, enough!" George said quickly. "Either stop this fighting or you're both grounded and that means you won't be seeing your boyfriend or your girlfriend for the next two weeks!"

"You can't possibly make me stop seeing my girlfriend," Derek said almost sarcastically. "I didn't do anything at all!"

"Other than try to beat up my boyfriend," Casey said with a scoff. "Look at that…my boyfriend gets into a fight thanks to you."

"So I guess it's my fault the guy wanted to have a makeout session with you in front of your parents."

"Actually that's probably our fault," Edwin said as he wrote down some information in his notebook. "We're the ones who asked him to do that."

"That's another thing, Edwin, _why_ would you be asking people stuff like that!" Edwin shrugged and continued to write. George and Nora had enough and they left to go into their own room.

"I'm going to room now," Casey said with a frustrated groan. She left the room and Derek started to leave but was stopped by Edwin's voice.

"So, Derek, what did you and Casey talk about?" Edwin asked. Derek raised his eyebrow and looked over at Edwin.

"What are _you_ talking about?"

"Earlier when we were all looking for Casey, she was in your room, wasn't she?" Lizzie asked as she crossed her arms over.

* * *

There's the chapter, my, Edwin and Lizzie seem to be suspicious little people. 


	8. Investigating

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in_Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

�Chapter 7 (Investigating)

Derek chuckled and crossed his arms, "What did you say?"

"What were you and Casey talking about in your room?" Edwin said in a semi slow tune. Derek rolled his eyes and sighed as he pointed to his eye.

"Well this was among the topics, generally about the stupidity of my actions and how I shouldn't have attacked Max." Derek sighed one more, at least that statement had some truth in it. Casey was truthfully not happy that Derek got himself injured and was upset with his actions. _"Can I help maybe feeling slightly jealous? Though I would never admit that…"_

"Are you sure you discussed nothing else?"

"Why do you think we discuss anything of importance?"

"We heard no yelling." Edwin raised his eyebrow and Derek narrowed his eyes.

"One, we _are_ capable of talking, and arguing without yelling at one another and two…should I ask what you and Lizzie do in the closet?" Edwin and Lizzie looked at each other with wide eyes, they blinked and looked over at Derek who now had a smirk plastered onto his face.

"We do nothing in the closet, what is there that we would possibly do?"Edwin asked.

"What is there that we could possibly do in the bedroom? Wait…bad questions, _why_ would Casey and I want to do anything with each other that would possibly make it seem like we tolerated or respected anybody at all. Do you not see how we fight almost _every_ time we are together?"

"You're sure it's not just some big façade and perhaps you are something a little _more_ than what your relationship shows? What are you hiding?" Lizzie inquired.

_"Inquiring minds want to know, yet some are not going to reveal."_ Derek shook his head and turned around. "You're asking stupid questions that have no base whatsoever. You have no evidence that proves that there is anything more than…dislike between me and Casey. That being said, all you have is what shows us to be at each other's neck every five minutes, I'm going upstairs and I am going to rest."

"Well we heard you talking to dad once before about attaching a ladder to your window, why are you doing that?" Edwin asked.

"Fire escape, a lot quicker and perhaps even safer, that's why."

"Oh, well that_does_ make some sense."

"Thank you." Derek walked up the stairs as Edwin and Lizzie looked at each other and frowned.

"He's right, we have nothing," Lizzie stated with a sigh. "We can't build a good argument with what we _do_ have."

"Maybe he's right and all they have is extreme dislike for one another," Edwin responded as he glanced toward his notebook. "Maybe we should ask Casey some questions, is she easy to break?"

"No entirely, she's pretty tough at not revealing things. How do we even know if they're really together anyway?"

"I don't know. All we have is suspicion. Derek is right about the fact that all the evidence we have is the stuff telling us they don't like each other." Lizzie nodded in return as she and Edwin walked up to Casey's room. They knocked on the door and walked in the room when Casey opened it.

"Do you need anything?" Casey asked as she sat on her bed.

"Yeah, we were wondering how you're doing tonight," Edwin said with a smile.

"I'm doing fine, why do you ask?"

"Are you still mad at Derek for messing things up with your boyfriend?"

"A little, but I'm over it now."

"Oh, well what did you and Derek talk about earlier?"

"I talked to him about his starting a fight with my boyfriend. I mean the man did ruin a good night with my boyfriend and he left early as well. Derek gets into a fight and receives a black eye, now things will probably be screwed up with my boyfriend."

"Oh, that's too bad then."

"My boyfriend is a bit of an overbearing person and can be a bit demanding. He can also be a bit on the abusive side."

"Max is this bad?"

"Yeah, that's just about right." Lizzie and Edwin looked at each other and shook their heads.

"That's not proper," Lizzie said as she crossed her arms. "He deserves to be tossed from a high building." Casey smiled and closed her eyes as she imagined Derek fighting with Max and kicking him off a building. 

"Uh, as much as he probably does, that would be wrong."

"Well, yeah it would…Casey, have you and your boyfriend ever…"

"Have we ever what? Have we ever made love?"

"Uh…yeah, has it happened?"

"Well, that's a personal question, Lizzie; it's not exactly something that should be asked." Edwin shuddered briefly and looked over at the girl.

"Yeah, and I'd rather not talk about that," Edwin said quietly. "I mean, who really wants to hear about that stuff?"

"Well I was just interested. It isn't all that important," Lizzie stated as she rubbed her chin. She shrugged her shoulders and glanced over at the bathroom. "You seemed pretty sick a couple weeks ago."

"Yeah, I had a stomach virus, but it's gotten better since then."

"Are you sure? I am concerned about you Casey." Casey smiled and crossed her arms, she was glad that Lizzie was concerned, but there was no reason to be concerned.

_"I was concerned too but the test proved itself to be wrong, though maybe I should go for a check up anyway."_ Casey leaned back on the bed and sighed. "I think its best that you go now so I can actually get some sleep."

"Yeah, we should do that now. You know, we really do think it's odd that Derek didn't act like a boyfriend with his girlfriend…"

"Well what did you expect him to do?" Casey raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms over. "Surely you didn't expect him to act like Max."

"No…So, what do you like in a boyfriend anyway? Oh, and for some strange reason we do not believe that can possibly be your 'perfect' boyfriend that you've had for two years!"

_"Well they have a good point, Max pretty much acts completely different than Derek does. Derek is much more of a man than Max is anyway."_ Casey sighed and looked over to Lizzie. "My view in a man is someone who has some chivalry and is honest and respectable. Max has his moments, nobody is perfect and Max is far from perfect of course.

"Yeah, whatever you say, Casey. It just doesn't seem like he'd be the guy you were always so happy and excited about over the years, I thought this man was so perfect and gentle, let's not forget how romantic he was. However this boyfriend that we've just seen was a jerk and held on respect for you and I'm not sure if he has a romantic bone in his body."

"Okay…well it's like I said, he _does_ have his moments."

"So what did you think of Derek getting into that fight?"

"I thought a bad thing happened, and it was between my boyfriend and that guy."

"It does seem like Derek came through," Edwin said with a sigh. "I mean, Max was crossing a line I suppose. Dad did seem like he was about ready to throw Max out if Derek hadn't showed up."

"Yeah, Derek did what he normally does." Casey let out a groan and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm still mad at him. In fact, I think I'm going to go and have a talk with him about his behavior."

"I thought you already did that."

"Well I'll do it again or at least until he gets all that through his thick head."

"He will never get it."

"So all you did was talk about his poor behavior?"

"Yes, that and the way I look at it is he needs to grow up." Casey crossed her arms and smirked. _"Although, he is very cute as he is now."_

"Yeah, he _does_ need to do a bit of growing up. After all, Derek _can_ be rather annoying at times. So, did he go to sleep?"

"Yeah, he's sleeping like a baby and whatnot."

"I'm guessing you wound up talking to him and tried to bother with asking him if we ever dated. It's not really likely that he'd say anything differently. We're just stepsiblings and he annoys the hell out of me to no end."

"Yeah, there just doesn't seem to be anything but dislike that you two have for each other," Edwin said as he crossed his arms. 

"Right, so could you get out of my room and let me sleep?"

"Well there isn't any reason to stay here." Edwin and Lizzie shrugged and walked out of the room.

"Edwin, there just seems like there would be something there, but I really don't know. Do you think there's anything there?" Lizzie asked as she looked toward Edwin.

"I wouldn't know. I'm sure there'd be _something_. I've noticed times they seem very close to each other but who really knows. I think this calls for more research and observation."

"Yes. We must find out the truth!"

"As long as we walk, we will find the truth out."

"Maybe we already know the truth…Maybe they really just don't like each other." Edwin sighed and Lizzie placed her hand on Edwin's shoulder.

"Surely you don't plan on giving up, do you?"

"Well, I'll keep searching but there isn't a whole lot to do unless they slip up."

"Maybe we should keep a close watch on then." Edwin rubbed his chin and Lizzie smiled.

"What do you think they'd do if they found us watching them that closely?"

"I don't know, but maybe it'd be a good idea to not tell them about everything." Lizzie nodded as she and Edwin walked down the stairs. Derek had been peering out of his doorway, he smirked as he closed the door.

_"Okay then, we'll just have to be extra careful,"_ Derek thought with a chuckle. _"Maybe we'll start sneaking out and whatnot."_ Derek took out his cell phone and dialed up Casey's number.

"Hello?" Casey asked into the phone.

"Hey Casey, how are you?"

"I'm good, did you need something?"

"Lizzie and Edwin want to keep a close watch on us. So I think it'd be a good idea to keep extra careful with out relationship if we want to keep it secret."

"Yeah, but what are we going to do with Max? It's obvious that he's no good."

"Dump him, dump him and if you want, we can talk to Sam about pretending to be your boyfriend."

"Okay, well we can do all that tomorrow. Goodnight, Derek."

"Goodnight Casey, I love you."

"I love you too." With that, Derek and Casey hung up their phones and leaned into their beds to go to sleep.

* * *

There's that chapter!�


	9. A Day at the Park

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in_Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 8 (A Day at the Park)

"The wedding will be in a couple of days," Casey said with a sigh as she sat on Derek's bed. "Then our parents are married and we're siblings."

"It's not as bad as it sounds, we're still not blood related," Derek stated. "So it's not like we're committing incest which is…illegal in many states." Casey chuckled and shook her head.

"Yeah, true that we're not doing all that. At least we don't have to worry too much about everyone figuring out we're dating."

"Yeah, that would be too much pressure on dad and Nora if they found out."

"So, Sam is picking us up, right?"

"Yeah, he'll pick us up and we'll go to the amusement park with him as well as Emily."

"Okay, good. Everyone else is gone for the rest of the day, so we have the whole house to ourselves." Casey smiled and looked over at Derek; he rubbed his chin and smirked.

"What are you thinking, Casey?"

"Well…I'm not sure, what do you suppose I'm thinking of?" Casey let out a small, lustful growl and Derek wrapped his arm around her.

"Now remember, we don't want to get too deep in the waters."

"Why don't we blow caution into the wind for now, in fact…that's not all I'd like to…" The doorbell rang and Derek slowly stood up. "Damn!" Casey stood up and Derek smirked as he pulled Casey into an embrace.

"Save that thought for later, Casey. I'm thinking that would be Sam and Emily right about now." Casey nodded and Derek slowly brought his lips to hers. He brought his head up as the doorbell rang once more. "I would continue, but we have to get to Sam and Emily now."

"Yeah, let's go…" Derek and Casey walked out of the room and down the stairs, the opened the front door as Sam was about to knock.

"Not bad timing Sam," Derek said with a small smirk. 

"I didn't miss anything did I?" Sam asked as he raised his eyebrow. "Or were you watching something and I interrupted." Derek chuckled and patted Sam on the back.

"Don't worry about it. Rather, let's go on to the amusement park and have some fun."

"Yeah, I'm ready," Casey said with a smile as she stepped out of the house. Emily ran up to Casey and grinned.

"Okay, I have everything planned out," Emily said with a smile. "First, we're going to split up in groups of certain numbers and then…"

"We're going to ride every ride in the park," Sam said with a chuckle. "Usually I'm the one annoying you by reading the plan constantly."

"Well I'll admit you were the one that came up with the plan…"

"Guys, let's go," Derek said as he and Casey walked to the car. 

"Okay, just do us a favor and try not to fight today."

"Oh yeah, that would be really annoying," Sam said as he rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Especially since…what reason would _you two_ have to fight?"

"They're constantly at each other's throat, Sam!"

"Yeah, I know that…"

"They literally hate each other." Sam rubbed his chin and chuckled.

"Well, I don't know about hating each other, but you could be right on that." Emily shrugged as she and Sam made it to the car. Sam and Derek sat in the front while Emily and Casey sat in the back. They drove in silence toward the amusement park, Sam turned on the music as they made their way onto the freeway and off. Soon they found the place and drove around for a parking spot, they all got out of the car when they parked. "Okay, in the back we have water bottles for today and some snacks, for lunch and all that stuff; we can easily go get pizza and what not."

"Okay, that sounds like a good plan," Derek said with a nod. 

"Okay, we're splitting up in groups now, Derek, you and Casey are together."

"What!" Derek and Casey shouted, they looked at each other and grimaced.

"Okay, there is_no_ way I'm going on a ride with Derek!" Casey exclaimed.

"Why would I want to go with a perfectionist like her?" Derek asked. "We'd spend a million years inspecting the ride and making sure it's clean and not broken. The ride would be closed before we ever got on." Sam crossed his arms and sighed while rolling his eyes. Emily chuckled softly.

"Believe me, I think you'll be just fine," Emily said. "Try not to kill each other."

"Oh come on, you'll do just fine together," Sam said quickly. "It isn't like there's anything you're going to do to want to tear the other person's head off their body. We're not here to fight, we're here to ride."

"Fine, I'll go with that," Derek said while crossing his arms. Casey let out a defeated sigh and shook her head.

"Just try not to ruin anything, Derek," Casey said.

"I won't ruin anything if you don't ruin anything." Sam rubbed his forehead and groaned.

_"They are morons,"_ Sam thought. _"Either that or we are the morons."_ Sam placed his hand on Derek's shoulder and his other hand on Casey's shoulder. "You only have to walk with each other; you don't _have_ to ride together. Heck, one of you can be behind the other."

"Oh yeah, and have Derek throw things at me from behind?" Casey stated. "I think not!"

"I'm sure Casey would find something to do while sitting behind me," Derek said as he narrowed his eyes. "She'd probably wind up hitting the back of my head at every turn." Sam and Emily sighed and shook their heads.

"Well, we all have fully charged cell phones," Emily said as she crossed her arms. "So, if anyone gets lost, call another person and set up a meeting place."

"Yeah, and we'll regroup every forty five minutes," Sam stated with a smile. "So when we regroup, go to the main area of the park and sit next to the fountain until the others show up." Sam smirked and patted both Derek and Casey on the back as he and Emily started to walk off. "Well, have fun and don't kill each other…Of course, I doubt you will." Sam and Emily split up and went in two separate directions as Derek and Casey raised their eyebrows and shrugged. Derek and Casey walked into the amusement park and Derek looked to Casey.

"You don't think Sam…Nah…"

"Well, where do you want to go first?" Casey asked. 

"Why don't you suggest it," Derek said with a smile. "A water ride would do quite nicely." Casey chuckled and playfully slapped Derek on the arm.

"Not this early, Derek."

"What? I didn't suggest anything in particular, just merely a water ride…in which case you might get completely soaked."

"Uh-huh, that's what I thought. It's going to be a while before that happens, I don't need you ogling me all day."

"What harm would it do?"

"Okay, let me rephrase it. I wouldn't mind be ogled by every guy in the park." Derek's eyebrow twitched slightly and he let out a small chuckle.

"Okay, no water rides for now." Casey chuckled and brought her hand to Derek's face.

"Don't worry Derek, if you're good, I'll get soaked for you. Perhaps when we go home I'll let you hose me down when no one is around."

"Yeah, that works out just fine." Casey chuckled and looked over at a game booth.

"Derek, look at that big dog over there!"

"That's a big stuffed dog, amazing. Do you like the big stuffed dog?" 

"Well, I noticed it, didn't I?"

"Yes."

"I'm just saying it looks cool." Casey looked over at a roller coaster, she reached out for Derek's arm but grabbed at the air. Casey looked over and saw Derek walking toward the game booth. "Derek, what are you doing!"

"I'm going to win you that big dog…" Casey ran up to the counter next to Derek and sighed.

"Well, you don't_have_ to."

"Shh, let me, I want to." Derek turned to the man behind the counter and pointed toward the big stuffed dog. "I'd like to get that dog for this beautiful woman standing next to me."

"Ah, well that is a big, hefty prize," The man said with a smile. "You'll have to knock down more cups with three balls, that's going to be ten cups with three balls."

"Okay, stack them up, I'm going to win that dog if it takes me all day."

"Don't make it take all day," Casey said as she shook her head. "We want some of that money for later, and what will our parents think?"

"They'll think you won it or your boyfriend showed up and won it for you. We'll think of something." Derek paid the man five dollars for three balls, he picked up the ball as the man stacked the cups and stepped back. "Here we go…steady…" Derek threw the ball and hit the top portion of the stack, three cups fell off. "Two more balls left." He threw another and hit five cups off. "Good thing all four cups are close together and stacked on one another." Derek aimed and swiftly tossed the ball, he hit the cups and knocked them off of the stand. 

"Not bad, here's the dog for the lovely lady," The man said as he took down a giant stuffed Labrador, he handed the Labrador to Casey. Casey quickly hugged Derek.

"Thanks, Derek!" Casey said with a smile.

"You're welcome. I think you'll love this dog, I won it with all the love I have for you." Casey let out a small chuckle and smiled as Derek wrapped his arm around her waist. He brought his lips down and kissed Casey on the lips. He pulled his head back a couple of inches and lowered his voice to a whisper. "I'll always love you, Casey McDonald."

"And I'll always love you, Derek."

------------------

Sam and Emily met up outside of the carousel, Sam sat down on a bench and let out a sigh as Emily walked up to him. "How do you think Derek and Casey are faring?" Emily asked.

"Heh, I don't know, what do you think?" Emily narrowed her eyes and sighed.

"I'm thinking they've killed each other by now."

"Not a lot of faith you have in your friend there."

"I'm sure Casey can handle herself, just if Derek doesn't start another fight with her."

"Or vice versa, but you know what I think?"

"What?" Sam smirked as he stood up and dusted himself off. He crossed his arms and looked over at a fountain in the distance, they would be regrouping in fifteen minutes. "Do you think they've probably got separated from each other because they couldn't stand being around each other?"

"No."

"I would think so, Casey acts like she can't stand Derek and he pretty much does the same."

"Right…" Sam chuckled and shook his head. "They do act like it."

"So what makes you think they are able to tolerate people, and why did you bother to pair them up as well?"

"Have a little more faith in Casey and Derek, Emily. Something tells me those two aren't arguing at all, in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if their having fun with each other…"

"Whatever you say, Sam…"

"You'll see what I mean, Emily. In fact, I've never been more sure that they would be having fun together." Emily sighed and shook her head. 

"Again I say, if you say so." Emily looked over and saw Derek and Casey walking toward them. "Oh look, there they are, they're early, perhaps they couldn't wait to get partnered up with someone _else_."

"Maybe you're right, Emily. Why _else_ would they be early? In fact, I'm wondering if Casey forced Derek to get that dog in her hands or if she did it herself." Sam chuckled and walked toward Derek and Casey, Emily rolled her eyes and walked toward them.

* * *

There's the chapter, We'll see what happens next chapter. Is it just me or is Sam a little too smart? Who knows what the guy's thinking raises hand (Oh, pick me! pick me!) Let's see what happens next, stay tuned.


	10. Trouble in Paradise

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in_Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 9 (Trouble in Paradise)

"Hey, nice dog you have there," Sam said as Derek and Casey walked up to Sam and Emily. "So, did Derek win it for you?"

"Yeah, I got it for her," Derek said with a shrug. "She wouldn't stop hounding me about it." Sam smirked and rolled his eyes in response to this. "How did you fare on the rides?"

"They were pretty fun actually, and I see that you two are still alive and not completely killing each other just yet."

"She still annoyed the crap out of me."

"Well maybe if you didn't constantly poke me while sitting behind me in the carts!" Casey said quickly. Sam raised his eyebrow and shook his head sadly. So maybe it was only one ride that he passed and saw their picture, they were both sitting in the same cart. Sam crossed his arms and thought about how stupid they must think he was. Well, at least they had one of them fooled. Sam looked over at Emily and sighed, she definitely figured they hated each other and was buying into the act.

"Okay you two, settle down while I think of the next grouping," Sam said quickly. Emily crossed her arms ad looked over at Sam.

"Do you think I can ride alone again?" Emily asked.

"Why?"

"Well it's not like you have to pretend to be your best friend's soon-to-be step brother's girlfriend." Sam chuckled and rolled his eyes, only Emily would be bothered by such a task that she shouldn't be worried about at all. He did understand the awkwardness of the situation that she had, so he just shrugged.

"If you want to ride alone, go ahead, but you can't be riding alone all day."

"Oh, don't worry!"

"Okay, after this, you're going to have to group up with someone. It might wind up being Derek for all you know."

"Only if you have names in a hat…"

"I was considering that actually." Sam smiled and Emily rolled her eyes. She decided to leave while she had the chance, so she turned around and walked off. Sam sighed and looked over at Derek and Casey. "I think it'll be best for us three to stick together this time." Derek and Casey shrugged and nodded their heads, they were willing to go with that.

"Sam, we have a request for you," Derek said as the three started to walk toward a ride. Sam rubbed looked over from a ride and at Derek with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you want?"

"Well, it's like this," Casey started. "My parents think I have a boyfriend who is perfect and whatnot. They technically haven't met him-"

"You want me to pretend to be your boyfriend and the deal with Max didn't work out, am I correct?" Casey blinked as Sam pulled out a granola bar from a snack bag he was carrying with him. "Do you two want anything? I have granola bars, trail mix, packs of cookies, candy and other stuff."

"No, I'm good, thanks."

"Yeah, I don't need anything," Derek responded. "How did you know about Max?"

"It wasn't hard to figure out," Sam said as he closed his eyes and took a bite of his granola bar. He tossed the wrapper in a nearby trashcan and swallowed his food. "Max has been telling his friends about his girlfriend, Casey. I overheard him talking about how her step brother tried to start a fight with him." Sam chuckled and took another bite of the granola bar. "Not the best way to go about things, Derek. You may just want to have Max get dumped or something."

"Yeah, you do pose a good point there." Derek clenched his fists and crossed his arms, he was irritated that Max was openly referring to Casey as his girlfriend. _"If he wants a fight…"_ Derek felt Casey grasp his hand while Sam wasn't looking; she squeezed slightly on his hand and smiled. He knew that was a gesture that she used to try and calm him down when he seemed upset about something.

"So, did you want me to pretend to be Casey's boyfriend, as you have Emily posing as your girlfriend?" Derek nodded his head and Sam let out a small chuckle. "I guess I'll have to do just that then. Too bad the deal with Max didn't work out." Derek let out a growl and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, that damn bastard got too serious."

"Maybe he just wanted Casey to be his actual girlfriend."

"I'll tell you what he wanted, he wanted Casey all right, I don't know about the girlfriend part!"

"Derek, calm down," Casey said quietly. "You don't need to worry."

"Of course I have to worry! That bastard tried to touch you and you expect me not to be upset about it?"

"Derek…" Derek rubbed his forehead and let out a small sigh.

"Why do you seem so calm about what Max did anyway?" Sam raised his eyebrow and walked over to a booth that was selling some drinks. He bought a soda and looked over at Casey and Derek, he couldn't hear much of what they were saying, he figured this was an actual argument and he didn't need to hear it.

"I'm only calm because…I don't know! You need to relax!"

"I could relax, and I would if we weren't constantly being hounded by your sister."

"Your brother is very much a part of that group, he probably started everything!"

"Don't blame Edwin."

"Don't blame Lizzie! It's not her fault she was roped by your brother!"

"Oh, and I suppose Lizzie's too innocent to do anything herself?"

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"Then why say it? I suppose you wouldn't mind having Max…"

"I wouldn't mind Max doing what?"

"Nothing…"

"Derek, you…" Casey let out a small growl and slapped Derek across the face before leaving the area. Derek's eyes widened as he placed his hand on the side of his face.

"Damn, I'm such an idiot." Derek quickly ran after Casey, Sam took a sip of his drink and sighed. Casey sat down on a bench and let a tear run down the side of her face.

_"What the hell was that about? Why did we fight?"_ Casey wiped the tear from her eye and stared at the ground. She felt someone wrap their arm around her; she looked up and saw Derek's solemn face, his eyes looking into hers.

"Casey, I'm sorry."

"Why did we fight, Derek? What was that about?"

"It was me being an idiot. Fights happen, you know that." Derek smiled and wiped another tear from Casey's eyes. "It just so happens that it started because I mentioned Max, I should probably calm down when it comes to him, you're right and I'm sorry."

"Yeah, but what brought up Lizzie and Edwin?"

"We're both just a little stressed out, it's probably because they asked Max to do what he did that night." Derek smiled and placed his finger under Casey's chin, he tilted her head upwards some and gazed into her eyes. "Can you forgive me for being an asshole just now?"

"You weren't being an ass, I was just being stubborn."

"I don't know about that. I think both of us were stubborn just now, and bringing up Max is not such a good idea. Now, you know that fights happen to everybody, it's only a cause of one or both people being total idiots. Right now you were the correct one and I was the idiot."

"Well then I forgive you for being an idiot, but can you forgive me for being stubborn? I wasn't thinking…"

"Well if you really want me to forgive you…" Derek smirked and Casey raised her eyebrow. "You know I do already." Derek looked down and saw the stuffed dog that Casey had, he smiled and picked it up and made it look at Casey. "Hello, are you happy, because I'm happy? If you're not happy, I'm going to lick you all over the place and tickle you with my tongue." Casey laughed and took her dog from Derek's hands. 

"I don't know if the dog would be able to do that actually." Derek smirked and looked to Casey.

"Oh, well the dog might not, since it doesn't have a real tongue. However, I know a person with a real tongue." Derek raised and lowered his eyebrows and Casey let out a small chuckle. 

"You would enjoy that, wouldn't you?"

"I'm sure you'd enjoy it. Hey, I'm sure you'd enjoy being tickled by my tongue." Casey smiled and shook her head.

"Well, you may have to wait for that treat."

"Oh, are you going to make me beg? So, are we good, no more bringing up he whose name shan't be mentioned?"

"Yeah Derek, I'm fine now." 

"Good, I love you, Princess Casey."

"I love you too, Prince Derek." Casey and Derek started to bring their head together but pulled apart when they heard Sam's footsteps nearing them.

"Trouble in paradise?" Sam asked as he walked up to his two friends. Casey smiled and Derek rubbed the back of his head.

"Everything is fine," Derek said. "It's just a little misunderstanding between two siblings."

"Right…" Sam sighed and looked out the corner of his eyes. "So, tell me what the limit is, Derek?"

"The limit on what?"

"Well, if I'm pretending to be Casey's boyfriend, I'm sure there are a few limitations that I'm going to be getting…from her real boyfriend." Derek and Casey blinked as Sam's lips formed a smirk.

"Her real boyfriend?" 

"Yes Derek, her real boyfriend, do you think I'm stupid? After all, I've been your best friend for a couple of years now, you'd think that as much as you've described about your girlfriend, I would have caught on to whom she was. Normally you'd use her pet names when talking about her but you've described her looks and personality several times over the years. That and I can tell a real fight versus a fake one, there's certain body language that goes into play. Sorry for bringing up Max, but that was a really bad idea to us him as Casey's fake boyfriend. Your reaction to him though, was exactly what I think a real boyfriend would have done, your actions with each other only can throw off your family because they figure you're going to be related and you two wouldn't possibly date each other. Also, with as much as you two argue, it really makes you seem like you wouldn't be together. You can't fool your best friends though, well maybe you can fool Emily, but I have it all figured out." Sam took a sip of his drink as Derek chuckled and crossed his arms.

"Well, not bad, yeah I suppose there would be limits. You know what would be acceptable and not."

"Yeah, no making out with the girlfriend, I know all that. Basically I'll just act like a boyfriend and keep my hands away from vital areas and lips away from her. Of course, I'm no pervert."

"True, so will you do it?"

"Yeah, what do you say, Sam?" Casey said with a smile.

"Yeah, I'll go along with it until you decide the time is right to talk to your parents. You're going to have to figure something out."

"We're thinking about a plan for this. We don't want to ruin Dad and Nora's relationship," Derek responded as he crossed his arms. "Yet you're right, we can't possibly keep it a secret forever, but for the time being, it will have to be a secret. And might I say that you have great timing, Sam." Sam looked at Derek and Casey and chuckled as he crossed his arms.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was I interrupting something before?"

* * *

There's the chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. You have to love Sam's timing, as well as his knowledge. Eh, stay tuned for the next chapter!


	11. Fun With Food

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in_Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

A/N: This one is up quickly because I got it done quickly and I like it so much that I just want to post it. The chapter was supposed to be completely different with only a mention of dinner, but it grew into its own chapter, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 10 (Fun with Food)

"Well, it's just a few more days," Casey said as she and Derek walked in the kitchen. George and Nora were getting closer to being married, they decided to take a week off before the wedding. Right now they had left to go on a quick trip for the week, and that left the rest of the family in the house to fend for themselves. "Where's Marti?"

"Sleeping," Derek stated as he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a can of soda. "She's been tired all day." 

"Good and I guess Edwin's helping Lizzie with her science project?"

"Yeah, so what do you want to do Casey?" Casey shrugged and Derek looked at her with a smirk. She looked over at Derek and raised her eyebrow. 

"What are you thinking?" Derek shrugged and stepped behind Casey while wrapping his arms around her waist. He softly kissed her neck and breathed in her scent.

"You smell great today, Casey. What perfume are you wearing? It's driving me crazy."

"Normally I'm the one going wild; I'm not wearing any perfumes right now, Derek." Casey chuckled as she placed a slice of bread on the plate in front of her. "I did take a shower though; you probably smell the shampoo that I used."

"Is it strawberry and banana scented?"

"Yes it is, because I know you love both scents. So, do you want ham on your sandwich or turkey?" Derek kissed Casey once more and smiled.

"I don't know what I'd like, why don't you surprise me."

"You're standing right there, it wouldn't be much of a surprise. I think I'll give you ham. So, do you want me to warm it up in the microwave? It'll melt the cheese and whatnot."

"Nah, I don't need you to warm it up. So, what do you want on the sandwich I'm going to make you?"

"Whatever you want to put on it is fine with me." Derek released Casey and crossed his arms.

"I'm thinking of cooking dinner for us all tonight. What do you think?"

"Let's see, you cooking dinner?" Casey turned around and looked at Derek while rubbing her chin. "I'd say we better run for the hills." Derek chuckled and shook his head slowly.

"I'm not that bad of a cook."

"Are you going to order take out?"

"No Casey, I'm going to cook us all some supper." 

"Okay, I'm going to watch." Derek smirked and wrapped his arms once more around Casey's waist and pulled her close.

"You surely don't think I'm going to burn the house down, do you?"

"Nah, I think you'll do just fine. So what are you going to make for all of us?" Derek kissed Casey on the lips and pulled his head back and looked upwards in thought.

"What would you like, and what does Lizzie like?" 

"Well Lizzie will eat almost anything and you know what I like." Casey turned around and finished making Derek's sandwich. Derek started to make Casey her sandwich, he placed the bread on a plate, then the meat and cheese, she didn't want any sauce. 

"So, you guys like Cajun food?"

"What do you have in mind?" Derek picked up his sandwich and Casey took hers, they walked over to the table and started to eat.

"I'm thinking Cajun Beef and Rice." Casey thought for a moment as she chewed her food and swallowed.

"Yeah, that sounds pretty good." Derek nodded as he took a bite of his food. "So, do you have any desert planned?"

"I'll let you decide on that. Why don't you help me with the main dish and I'll help you with the desert."

"That sounds nice; I wouldn't mind making some Amaretto Brownies for desert."

"Tell me about those."

"They're really good, semi sweet chocolate and delicious tasting frosting! I have the recipe for it; I think you'd enjoy them."

"Casey, I enjoy anything you cook."

"Don't lie, Derek."

"What are you talking about?" Derek grinned and Casey shook her head with a chuckle. "Anyway, we should go shopping for certain ingredients."

"Yeah, we'll leave Edwin and Lizzie in charge and be back in thirty minutes."

-------------------------

"You two are actually going to cook, together?" Lizzie asked in disbelief. "Can you actually manage to get along for that amount of time? Why don't you just order takeout?" Derek and Casey chuckled and crossed their arms.

"Well as long as Casey stays out of my way, we'll be fine," Derek said.

"The same thing goes for Derek," Casey said with a frown. Lizzie shrugged and decided to go to her room and get some rest while the food was prepared. She knew they were planning to make something that they said was good, so naturally, she couldn't wait. Edwin was in his room and was working on some of his own homework while Marti played with her dolls in her own room. Derek and Casey placed all the needed materials on the counter.

"This dinner should be great," Derek said with a grin. "We'll have to work on the appetizers first."

"I think they'll enjoy what we have in mind." Derek nodded and started to cut the green onions while Casey worked on tearing off pieces of lettuce. "Those crab legs over there were expensive."

"Well, we only spent about twenty five dollars at the store. I suppose the legs were the most expensive item. I'm sure you know how much Ilove legs." Derek smirked and Casey chuckled as she sprinkled some sesame oil onto the crabmeat. 

"Maybe I'll let you have a taste of my legs after supper."

"You know, I'd love that very much." Derek started to mix the green onions and bean sprouts together until they became ground together. Casey placed a piece of lettuce on a spring roll and Derek put some mixture on top of the roll. They did this with ten more rolls and placed them in the refrigerator.

"Leave that in there for about two hours or until we get the main course ready to eat."

"Well, appetizers come first. Okay, the main course doesn't take long to cook, since we've got the amaretto frosting, all we have to do is make the brownies. I can think of some fun that could be had with this frosting and you." Casey looked over at Derek as he raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"You have such a dirty mind, Derek." Derek placed the canister of frosting on the counter and wrapped his arms around Casey.

"I learned from the best. Look at all the food we have scattered about, there's honey, chocolate, frosting, some bean sauce…There's a _lot_ of fun to be had here." Casey smirked and tapped Derek on the nose.

"Yes, but we shouldn't do anything to spoil your appetite, Derek." 

"Aw, are you sure about that?" Derek took a wooden spoon and dipped it in the chocolate. "This is very tempting."

"Derek, you better not!" Derek smirked and flung some of the chocolate toward Casey. She laughed and ducked out of the way. "That's it, you asked for it!" Derek raised his eyebrow as Casey grabbed the squeezable container of honey. She squirted some honey at Derek but missed; he quickly flung some chocolate at her and got her near the jaw line and on her neck. 

"Hah, I got you!"

"You're so lucky I have my hair back in a ponytail right now! Of course, you can't do anything about it if you get honey in your hair." Casey grinned and Derek put his hands up as she shot some honey in his direction. He quickly grabbed another canister of honey and squirted Casey with it. She swiftly placed a spoon in the chocolate and submerged Derek with the chocolate. Derek held his arms out and chuckled.

"My clothes are covered with chocolate now, thank you." Derek smirked and Casey held out her hand.

"I know what you're thinking, and you better not come near me with those messy clothes!"

"Okay…"

"Really, you're not going to attempt-" Derek got some sauce and covered Casey with it; she gasped as the sauce ran down her body. 

"Ooh, it went in your shirt."

"You are in _so_ much trouble now." Derek smirked and hugged Casey. "Ah!" Casey laughed as the sauce squished in between her body and Derek's. "Great, now I need to take a shower!"

"Yeah, we both need to take a shower."

"Not so fast, food boy, you're taking your own shower."

"Aw, why is that?"

"You've already had _your_ treat." Derek traced his finger along Casey's jaw and licked the chocolate, honey and sauce off of his finger.

"Mmm, you're right, it _is_ pretty good. He traced his finger through the food once more and placed his finger in Casey's mouth.

"Yeah, delicious, let's get cleaned up and clean up the kitchen before we have to serve dinner."

"That's a good idea."

------------------------

"What are these?" Lizzie asked as Casey placed the Chilled Spring Rolls on the table.

"They are spring rolls, they're very good," Casey said with a smile. "The main course will be served after this."

"Why are your clothes different?" Edwin asked as he looked to Derek and Casey. "Both of you have on different clothes."

"We had a little…issue in the kitchen," Derek said with a very subtle smirk. 

"Speaking of which, we need to go check up on that meat," Casey said as she walked into the kitchen with Derek. Lizzie and Edwin took a bite of the spring rolls and smiled.

"These are delicious!" Lizzie said quickly. 

"Yeah, I'm tempted to eat every one of them," Edwin said as he took a bite. "They're really good; I hope the rest of the food is this good."

"Here I thought they'd just cook hotdogs or something, they went all out today." Marti smiled and took a bite of the roll, she got up from her seat and went into the kitchen to tell Derek and Casey about how much she liked the food. 

"Derek, Casey, these are great!" Marti said with a smile. "The rest of the food's going to be good, right?" Derek chuckled and turned to Marti.

"Yes, you'll be blown away by the greatness of the food, I'm sure," Derek said as he rubbed Marti's head. Marti smiled and hugged Derek; she sniffed the air and raised her eyebrow. 

_"That's an interesting smell on Derek."_ Marti quickly ran over to Casey and hugged her. _"There it is again…"_ Marty tightened her hug and grinned. "Thanks for cooking tonight!"

"Aw, you're welcome, Marti," Casey said with a smile. "To tell the truth, Derek's the one that cooked the Cajun food; I think you're going to like it. As long as Derek didn't put anything bad in there as a prank, which I'm sure he'd probably do." Derek put on an offended look.

"What, you think I'd prank my own family?" Derek asked.

"Well, not Edwin or Marti, I don't know about me or Lizzie though."

"Oh, well you're family." Marti let out a chuckle and started to walk away, she stopped and turned around.

"Not yet," Marti pointed out. "We will be soon, though! Why don't you wait for everyone else to finish eating and then eat together?" Marti walked smiled brightly as the older two raised their eyebrows. She left the room and Derek let out a small chuckle.

"You don't suppose Marti…"

"Nah…Let's get the food out and sit down with everyone else. They're going to enjoy it, I know I will."

* * *

These are the recipes for the foods that are mentioned. I'm posting them for anyone who is interested in them. I found them off of fancyrecipesdotcom.

Chilled Spring Rolls  
2 green onions  
5 cups bean sprouts (10 ounces)  
10 cooked fresh crab legs (each about 2  
inches long) -- shelled  
OR  
10 imitation whole crab legs (each about 2  
inches long)  
1 teaspoon sesame oil  
10 leaf lettuce leaves  
10 ready-to-eat spring roll skins (8 1/2  
inches square)  
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro  
Honey Sichuan Sauce -- (recipe follows)

HONEY SICHUAN SAUCE  
1/3 cup honey  
1/3 cup chili purée

Cut green onions into 2-inch pieces; cut pieces lengthwise into thin  
strips. Mix green onions and bean sprouts; divide mixture into 10 equal  
parts. Sprinkle crabmeat pieces with sesame oil. Tear each lettuce leaf  
into 3-inch squares.

Place 1 lettuce square on center of 1 spring roll skin. (Cover remaining  
skins with plastic wrap to keep them pliable.) Place 1 part bean sprout  
mixture on lettuce; top with 1 crabmeat piece and 1 1/2 teaspoons  
cilantro. Fold bottom corner of spring roll skin over filling, tucking the  
point under. Fold in and overlap the 2 opposite corners. Brush fourth  
corner generously with cold water; roll up to seal.

Repeat with remaining spring roll skins. (Cover filled spring rolls with  
plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.) Cover and refrigerate at least  
2 hours but no longer than 8 hours. Cut in half if desired. Serve with  
Honey Sichuan Sauce.

HONEY SICHUAN SAUCE:  
Mix ingredients.

Cajun Beef and Rice  
1/2 pound ground beef  
1 medium stalk celery -- chopped (1/2 cup)  
1 medium onion -- chopped (1/2 cup)  
2 teaspoons Cajun or Creole seasoning  
2 cups uncooked instant rice  
1 cup water  
8 medium fresh okra -- sliced  
OR  
1 cup frozen (thawed) cut okra  
2 medium tomatoes -- chopped (1 1/2 cups)  
1 small green bell pepper -- chopped (1/2 cup)  
2 (11 1/2 ounce) cans lightly tangy eight-vegetable juice

Heat 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook beef, celery,  
onion and Cajun seasoning in skillet about 4 minutes, stirring frequently,  
until beef is brown and vegetables are tender. Stir in remaining  
ingredients. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook about 5 minutes or  
until rice is tender.

Amaretto Brownies  
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method  
-------- ------------ --------------------------------  
2/3 cup blanched whole almonds -- toasted  
1 (8 ounce) package semisweet baking chocolate  
1/3 cup butter or margarine  
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour  
1 cup sugar  
2 tablespoons amaretto  
1 teaspoon baking powder  
1/2 teaspoon salt  
2 eggs  
Amaretto Frosting -- (recipe follows)

AMARETTO FROSTING  
2 cups powdered sugar  
3 tablespoons butter or margarine -- softened  
1 tablespoon amaretto  
1 tablespoon milk (1 to 2 tablespoons)

Heat oven to 350º. Grease rectangular pan, 13 × 9 × 2 inches. Place 1/3  
cup of the almonds in food processor. Cover and process, using quick  
on-and-off motions, until almonds are ground; set aside. Chop remaining  
1/3 cup almonds; reserve.

Melt chocolate and butter in 3-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring  
frequently; remove from heat. Stir in ground almonds and remaining  
ingredients except Amaretto Frosting. Spread in pan.

Bake 22 to 27 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out  
clean. Cool completely. Prepare Amaretto Frosting. Spread on brownies.  
Sprinkle with reserved chopped almonds. Cut into about 3 × 1-inch bars.

AMARETTO FROSTING:

Mix all ingredients until smooth.


	12. Story Time

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in_Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 11 (Story time)

Derek lay in his bed with his arms behind his head, it was late at night and he was trying to get some sleep. He was kept awake by the thoughts that rode on his mind; he looked over at his door as it creaked open. Marti's quiet voice soon entered the room. "Are you awake, Derek?" Marti asked. 

"Yeah, come on in, Marti, is something wrong?" Derek turned on the lam next to his bed as Marti made her way over to Derek's bedside. "Did you have a bad dream or something?" Derek sat up and smiled as he looked at Marti.

"I was wondering why you changed your clothes earlier today. I couldn't sleep because I thought something bad happened to your clothes or that you and Casey destroyed each other's clothing." Derek chuckled and hugged his sister, he picked Marti up and sat her in his lap.

"No, we didn't quite destroy each other's clothing. I don't despise Casey enough to shred her clothes and I don't think she'd shred mine either."

"Why haven't you gone on a date with your girlfriend in a while?" Derek raised his eyebrow as Marti sighed. "Strange things have happened and I don't know what's going on. Casey said she broke up with Max and now she's dating your friend, Sam. I didn't like that guy, and your girlfriend didn't act like the girlfriend you always told me and Edwin about."

"Well, I'm going on a date with my girlfriend tomorrow, so don't you worry about that. I'm not sure about Casey though; she did break up and start dating someone else. It did seem a little quick for someone who had been dating a person for two years. I think Sam saved her from Max or something, so in the process; the princess was rescued by Prince Charming. The princess then dates Prince Charming."

"You're a good storyteller, Derek. You always make up great stories. I wanted to say that the food was great, I loved it all. You and Casey make a good team!" Derek chuckled, he was sure Marti didn't know how true that statement was. 

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Marti. You see, Casey and I don't _always_ fight."

"I'm glad…Derek, can you tell me a story, please?"

"Why?"

"I want to hear a story so I can go to bed."

"Okay, let me think." Derek rubbed his chin and smiled. "I have this great story for you!" Marti smiled and curled up near the edge of the bed and listened intently as Derek started.

"Once upon a time there was this beautiful maiden, she was the queen of a very special land, she had everything she could ever want! In a far distant land there was this very handsome king, he too had everything he could ask for. He had loyal subjects that followed him around wherever he went and they did whatever he asked of them, the queen was the same. They were not stuck up at all; instead, they were loved by all. The queen had a gentle and caring heart and helped everyone in the land."

"I like the queen!" Derek smiled and nodded.

"Yes, well the queen seems very happy, doesn't she?"

"Yes."

"Ah, but she was not. Even though she had everything she could ever ask for and a life that was far greater than you could possibly imagine. She was a deeply saddened person."

"She was?" Marti's eyes widened and Derek nodded in return.

"The king in the far distant land was sad as well, for he had everything except for the one thing that could make him happy. Despite all that he had, he still felt alone, not even his family could satisfy him. In his royal courts, the joker wasn't able to make him laugh, the royal sweetheart couldn't make him smile with her tenderness and even the advisor to the king, or elder wasn't able to help him with this dilemma he faced."

"Wow, that king sounds like a loner!" Derek chuckled and rubbed Marti's head. "Hopefully the queen had it better!"

"Not much better actually, for you see, her jester was no help and neither was the royal advisor. She was almost as much of a loner as the king was and desperately needed help to get her out of this rut."

"So what happened?"

"There in the kingdom were two loyal subjects, one for the king and another for the queen. Both of these loyal subjects resided in the queen's domain though, one loyal subject knew this king and the other knew the queen. They realized after close investigation the one thing that both the king and queen were missing."

"What was that?"

"They were missing a partner, a better half, someone to share their life with."

"Oh, is that what they were missing? So what did they do?"

"Well, these two loyal subjects met up with each other and decided that the King and the Queen needed to meet up with one another, they thought the two would be perfect for one another. So they set up a time and place for the king and queen to meet, but there was one problem."

"What, what happened? Tell me!"

"There was this ruthless and cunning knight that didn't think that the queen needed anyone other than himself. Sir David was what his name was. Well, Sir David wasn't like the other knights, he was cold and calculating, he despised the king and was a very greedy knight. Sir David didn't care about his knightly duties, he wasn't part of the queen's loyal subjects that cared for her, his kindness was feigned, or faked."

"Wow, he sounds mean!"

"Yes he was. When he caught wind of the two bishop's plans, he was furious. He heard of this great king and as I mentioned, he hated the king, so he tried everything in his power to keep the queen and the king apart. He even went as far as to taint one of the king's own knights, two of them actually. One wasn't tainted and nobody knows about the other knight."

"The king didn't know what was going on? Did he ever find out about Sir David?"

"Oh, he did, but it wasn't for a long time."

"Tell me more!" Derek smiled and walked over to his window. Marti watched with full interest.

"It wasn't until the moon was high above that the queen's bishops and Sir David would make their moves. One bishop talked to the queen and told her that she wanted to see her in the park at a late hour. It was said that the bishop wanted to go stargazing, this was because the Bishop loved to gaze at the stars, astronomy was her interest. The other bishop knew the king well and chose to convince him to meet him at the park. His reason was almost the same; he said that you could get a great view of the moon at the park."

"I like the bishops!"

"I do too; they are good people, unlike Sir David who would try and attack that very night. For when the king and queen met, the bishops hid in a nearby shrubbery and watched in awe as the king and queen got to know each other well. It was obvious that they were having a great time with each other, the king even asked the queen on a date, she accepted. Well, it happens that Sir David jumped out from behind a nearby tree and accused the great king of trying to steal the queen's heart from him."

"The queen didn't even like him!" Derek raised his eyebrow and turned to look at Marti.

"Are you sure about that? For Sir David was a highly popular knight." Marti shrugged and hugged her stuffed animal closely.

"It just seems like the queen wouldn't like him."

"You're right, the queen didn't like him. The queen was almost terrified of him, she had dated him once in the far past but dumped him a long time ago for cheating on her. Sir David tried to punch the king but the king was quick on his feet. He swore to protect the queen from the menace and that's what he did, he hit Sir David and knocked the knight to the ground. When Sir David got to his feet, the two bishops jumped out of their hiding place and grabbed the man, they started shouting at him and after time, Sir David left."

"What happened to the king and queen?"

"They stayed together in perfect harmony after that, they had their ups and downs but they were very much in love. To this day, the king and queen are ever thankful for their bishops and are even more in love than the day they met. Therefore you could say they lived happily ever after, if you wanted to say that."

"Wow…So Derek is that story true?" Derek smiled and sat down on his bed next to Marti.

"Yes it is a true story."

"They're even still together, even though their two advisors have met and are getting married?" Derek raised his eyebrow and rubbed the back of his head.

"Uh, I don't know about that. I didn't say their advisors met or were getting married."

"Oh, and the king and queen, they're keeping their relationship a secret, aren't they?"

"Well, I didn't say that either." Derek chuckled and patted Marti on the head. "You can add whatever details to that story that you'd like; just remember to cite the owner of the story."

"Derek, is that how you and Casey met?" Derek coughed and hit his chest with his fist.

"What!"

"You're the king and Casey's the queen in the story, right?"

"I…you…what makes you think I was talking about Casey? Surely you've seen that we're constantly at each other's throats, right?" Marti chuckled and hugged Derek.

"I won't tell Edwin or Lizzie, or even dad and Nora, but I think you're King Derek and Casey is Queen Casey. The two bishops would be two of her friends from school, right? I also know from hearing Lizzie talk about one of Casey's past boyfriends, one of them was known as David and he cheated on her, isn't that right?" Derek smiled and hugged Marti in return.

"That's my smarti; well I don't know how or when you figured it out…"

"I came downstairs to get a doll I left in the living room while you and Casey were cooking. It seemed obvious to me before that you two might like each other but what I saw in the kitchen…"

"Was too mature for your eyes and ears, Marti, and it was not something you should think about." Derek chuckled and shook his head slowly. "You're right, I met Casey two years ago, Dad and Nora never knew about our relationship with each other. We fell in love with each other and still are to this day, we believe it'll be far too awkward for Dad and Nora if they found out. We don't want to do anything to ruin their relationship and that's why we're hiding it from them for the time being."

"Wouldn't it be awkward for you after they got married?"

"They'll be getting married anyway. It wouldn't be awkward for me and I believe Casey said it wouldn't be awkward for her. We are only step siblings, therefore we are not related, hence it isn't awkward."

"Well it makes more sense that Casey's your real girlfriend and not that other girl you were with the other night."

"What do you mean?"

"She seems more like the girlfriend you always talked about." Marti shrugged and Derek let out a small chuckle. "Are you and Casey going on a date tomorrow?"

"We're planning on it, Edwin and Lizzie will be in charge so you'll have to be on your best behavior."

"They're going to think Casey's going out with Sam and you're going out with Emily, I won't tell them that you and Casey are going out if you don't want me to."

"Please don't, we don't know how they'll react quite yet and it'd be best to reveal it to them when we decide to tell dad and Nora. We're hoping that when we manage to do that, then it won't be a problem, luckily we're both eighteen so it won't freak them out entirely. Anyway, it's time for you to go to bed, goodnight Marti."

"Goodnight Derek!" Marti quickly walked out of the room and Derek leaned back in his bed. He thought back to the two friends who helped him get together with Casey, he wondered what they were up to.

_"Well at least David isn't a problem."_

* * *

There's the chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. It would seem that Marti is a smart little girl. Oh, also note that Derek and Casey are 18 in this story. Stick around for the next chapter, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. _  
_


	13. The Best Friends

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in_Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

A/N: How is it every time I start a chapter Life with Derek is on? Haha, enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 12 (The Best Friends)

The next morning Derek and Casey found themselves being woken up by one of their siblings. "Wake up Derek," Marti said quickly. "You don't want to be late for your date!"

"Oh…five more minutes," Derek said with a soft mumble as he moved the pillow over his face. "Come on, you know my girlfriend is in the other room."

"I'm going to tell her that you want to sleep instead of get ready for the date!" Derek's eyes shot open and he sat up in bed.

_"Oh the wonders of having a baby sister who knows your girlfriend, they are so great."_ Derek chuckled and hugged Marti. "You're too sweet to do that to your big brother, right?"

"Keep dreaming, Derek." Derek laughed and climbed out of the bed.

"I assume Lizzie's waking Casey up."

"She is."

"Sam and Emily will be here soon."

"You're not going to pick Emily up? Isn't that how boyfriends are supposed to go on a date with girls?" Derek chuckled and rubbed Marti's head.

"You are going to make a great girlfriend for somebody one day. Yes, that's how it works usually, only Emily isn't like other girlfriends." Derek winked and shook his head slowly. "In a way, I _am_ picking up my girlfriend to take her on the date." Derek yawned and crossed his arms. "Now let me get ready for my date with _Emily_."

"But Derek, I thought you were going on a date with…" Marti blinked and smiled at Derek as he nodded and smiled back. "Okay, I'll let you get ready for your date with Emily!" Marti ran out of the bedroom as Derek walked to his closet. 

"Well, I can't really surprise her with my outfit just yet, or can I?" Derek rubbed his chin and smirked.

------------------------

Casey walked into the living room with Lizzie, she had a semi formal dress on. They didn't need to dress up entirely formal, but it wasn't completely casual either. "Do you think my boyfriend will like my dress?"

"Casey, you've dated him for…wait, this is a new boyfriend, I have a question," Lizzie stated as she crossed her arms.

"What?"

"What went wrong with your perfect, two year boyfriend? You broke up with him after that one night, wasn't that like his first mistake?" Casey looked out the corner of her eyes and sighed.

"That wasn't his _first_ mistake; he's made a few others before."

"Yet, you've always made up with each other and it always seemed like you were in love with him."

"Lizzie…uh…" Casey crossed her arms over and sighed, she looked over to see Derek walk down the stairs. "Derek!" Her eyes were wide; he had a sweater on and large baggy pants. Casey chuckled at the site, it looked too far out of style for him to be wearing such clothes. "Surely you're not going on your date while wearing _those_ clothes!"

"Well, I found them in the far back of my closet; I hadn't worn these in a while actually." 

"I think it's a bad idea to wear those on your date," Lizzie stated as raised her eyebrow. "Would Emily approve?"

"Yeah Derek, would your girlfriend honestly approve of that get up?" Casey asked with a snicker. Derek narrowed his eyes and looked over at Casey. She was beautiful in her outfit, he felt like taking a picture of the outfit and he knew she would make a crack about taking a picture if he kept staring. Casey walked over to Derek and rubbed her chin. "Honestly Derek, I hope that bag you're wearing has a zipper, because your hair looks good enough that if you took that shirt off it would probably ruin your hair."

"Now since when has that ever been a problem, Casey?" Derek crossed his arms and smirked. "I honestly think my girlfriend will love my outfit." 

"Yeah, whatever you say, Derek. Lizzie was just asking about my two year boyfriend."

"Yeah," Lizzie said in a bored tone. As bored as she was, she still couldn't help but try not to laugh at the sight of Derek's outfit. "I was wondering why she broke up with her boyfriend of two years, her_perfect_ boyfriend."

"I never said he was perfect…"

"Oh but that's always the image that you gave off, in fact I was sure that you were in love and so was mom. Then your boyfriend messed up during that one night and you broke up with him."

"Well…"

"Don't tell me you dated on and off, you never once broke up with your boyfriend; you'd have been devastated if you broke up with him. That's another thing; you broke up with Max and didn't seem devastated at all." Derek raised his eyebrow and looked at Casey, he knew if Lizzie continued, she'd probably break. Of course, who could resist their adorable little sister, Marti learned about his two year girlfriend and he was still with her. The only problem was that Max did not stick well with the plan.

"We have about fifteen minutes before Sam and Emily show up," Derek stated.

"I still want to know what happened with Casey's boyfriend, though." Derek sighed and rubbed his forehead, Marti walked over to the stairs and looked down at everyone.

"Lizzie, Edwin won't wake up!" Marti said quickly. "Could you help me wake him up and then help me with my dolls?"

"Sure, I'll be right up!" Derek smirked as Lizzie hurried up the stairs.

"You have to love Marti," Derek said as he crossed his arms. "Now, if you'll pull the zipper in the back of my shirt while I take off this bag on my legs."

"Uh, okay," Casey said with a chuckle. She walked behind Derek and found a long zipper; she chuckled and unzipped the shirt. "Is this a Halloween costume or something?" 

"I bet you're wondering what is underneath." Casey smirked and tapped Derek on the back of his head.

"Well I'm sure it's nothing that will take longer than fifteen minutes."

"Maybe you should get your mind out of the gutter, Casey dear."

"Your mind isn't in the gutter? I believe you were staring at my dress, were you not thinking about peeling it off?"

"I wasn't at that point of time." A smirk formed onto Derek's lips and he bent over to take off the large pants that he had on him. "I suppose I am _now_." Casey laughed and watched as Derek took off the pants, she crossed her arms when she noticed cloth underneath. "What were you thinking just now, Casey?" Casey chuckled and playfully slapped Derek's arm.

"I wasn't thinking anything! I suppose you have clothes on underneath all of this."

"I'm telling you, it sure is hot underneath all of this. You should have seen the look on your face; you were thinking that I didn't dress up at all!" Derek tossed the baggy pants onto the couch and slowly took off the large sweater. He turned around and Casey's eyes went wide. He was wearing on a white dress shirt and an open jacket over it. He wore black slacks and a silky black tie. "The tie is probably a bit much though."

"I think it's perfect, you definitely caught me by surprise."

"Yes, you don't suppose my girlfriend will enjoy seeing this? After all, I haven't always looked this good, right?"

"You've always looked good to me." A smirk formed on Casey's mouth as she crossed her arms once more. "I'd say you look good with and without clothes on."

"I would say the same for you, if we weren't leaving in a few minutes, I would definitely consider peeling that dress off." Casey chuckled and narrowed her eyelids.

"I think I might let you have a peek."

"You know, Marti figured us out. I think she figured it out yesterday while we were cooking the food."

"Oh my…Well that's fine if she knows, she won't tell Edwin or Lizzie, will she?"

"No." The doorbell rang so they walked over and opened the door. Sam and Emily stood in the doorway and smiled at Derek and Casey. 

"So, you guys ready to go?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, we're ready."

"Great, are you sure we can't stick around with you guys? Kind of like a triple date almost."

"Are you _sure_?" Derek rubbed the back of his head and Casey frowned slightly. "We don't want you to feel awkward or anything."

"Why would we feel awkward?" Emily asked. "All we're doing is meeting up with Chance and Tiphanie…"

"You do realize that those two happen to be Casey's old best friends, right?"

"Yes, she's mentioned them at least once."

"I'd be worried about what you guys would think," Casey said quietly. "I mean there are several researched instances where current best friends will meet an old best friend-"

"And they will become jealous and self conscious. Girl, you have nothing to worry about, but will someone please explain to me, why the change of mind? Instead I'm single again, which I actually like…Even though I'm still pretending to be your girlfriend..." Derek, Casey and Sam chuckled as they walked to the car.

"You still don't know, do you?" Derek asked with a smirk as he held the door open for Casey. Derek sat in the front passenger seat in front of Casey and Sam sat in the driver's seat in front of Emily. "Casey and I have been together for two years."

"What!" Emily's eyes widened and she looked over at Casey. "You're joking, tell me you're joking."

"No, that's been the case all this time," Casey said with a smile. "Sam found out recently or maybe he knew all along…We haven't told our parents because we're worried about how they would feel. We don't want to ruin their relationship or anything."

"So that's why you had me pretend to be Derek's girlfriend. Oh my god, I've been talking bad about him to you all this time! I'm such a bad person!"

"No you're not. It's only natural because of the façade that Derek and I put up." Sam started up the car and drove down the street.

"So, how did you two meet?"

"Well we met through Chance and Tiphanie," Derek said as he crossed his arms. "They were Casey's best friend, but I knew Chance and both of these people matched us up."

"Wow, they must be really good friends then!" Derek and Casey sighed and looked out the window. "Oh! Don't worry about the comfort level; I can't wait to meet them!"

"You honestly don't have a problem; you're not going to start asking them all these questions about our likes and whatnot are you?"

"No, I promise." Sam looked in the rearview mirror and smiled.

"Emily, relax," Sam stated. "Derek, Casey, trust us when we say that we're perfectly fine with meeting your old best friends. We won't care what they think of us and we won't make a big deal out of them. In fact, I personally can't wait to meet the two people who coupled you up!"

"They're the ones who put everything in motion," Casey said with a nod. "Of course the one that really got me interested in Derek was…"

"David," Derek said with a low growl. Sam's eyes shifted over and narrowed and Casey frowned and looked downward. Emily raised her eyebrow and looked at all three.

"Okay, back up,_who_ is David? Why does the name bring about such attitudes in you three?"

"David was one of my old boyfriends," Casey said quietly. "He was my second boyfriend. My first was never much of a boyfriend and David cheated on me. The night that I met Derek, he was still obsessed about me and he tried to interfere. He and Derek got into a small fight, Chance and Tiphanie dragged him away."

"Oh…So what is he to Sam?" Sam glanced out the windshield and parked the car next to a restaurant.

"David tried to get me to do his dirty work," Sam said quietly. "The bastard tried to be my friend and I nearly became a friend of his. I found out that there was this girl he was interested in; he said she was still his girlfriend and her heart was his. He said that two people were trying to get Derek to meet her and I wanted no part of the guy's plan. He was a sicko, I figured that much out over time. I never knew that the girl he was talking about…was Casey." Emily let out a small gasp and Casey formed a halfhearted smile.

"None of that matters now, so let's go inside, Tiphanie and Chance are waiting!" Emily nodded and looked out the window, she saw a girl with brown hair and a man with spiked brown hair standing in front of the restaurant. They looked at Derek and Casey as everyone got out of the car. Emily smiled, she liked these two already. Even though she said she wouldn't be uncomfortable, she couldn't help a small part of her thinking that these friends had to be pretty important people to both Derek and Casey. She shrugged off the feeling and decided to meet the two.

* * *

There's the chapter, I guess the title is appropriate, the best friends learn about the old best friends while going to meet them. Also, you just have to enjoy the concept of triple dating. So Sam was nearly fooled and corrupted by David, wow, we just learned something else about Derek's story to Marti! Hope you enjoyed, stick around for the next chapter


	14. The Date Begins

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in_Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

A/N: Just thought I'd give you guys this chapter early. Read it carefully, you'll find a few of Sam's lines rather interesting.

* * *

Chapter 13 (The Date Begins)

"So, this is Tiphanie and that's Chance, right?" Sam said with a smile as Casey walked over to the two.

"Yes, these are our old friends," Casey said.

"It's good to meet you," Tiphanie stated. Sam and Emily nodded and shook hands with Chance and Tiphanie. 

"It's good to meet you too," Emily said quickly. "It's great to meet the people that helped get Casey and Derek together!" 

"Uh…yeah…" Tiphanie looked over at Chance and chuckled nervously. Chance smiled and crossed his arms.

"Well what are we waiting out here for?" Chance asked. "Let's go inside and eat!"

"My thoughts exactly," Sam said with a grin. "We have a full day, then we leave Derek and Casey to their own time." Sam placed his hand on Emily's shoulder in an attempt to calm her nerves, it was clear that she was nervous. The six people walked into the restaurant and were greeted by a hostess who walked them to a large square table. Sam and Emily sat on one side of the table, Chance and Tiphanie sat on the other side of the table as Casey and Derek sat in between. Everyone was looking at the menu as the waiter came to the table. He had the restaurant's cap on and was wearing a pair of sunglasses over his eyes.

"Hi, I'll be your server today, is there anything I can get you?" The waiter asked. Sam looked up at the waiter and frowned for a moment before shrugging and looking back at his menu.

"I'll have a glass of water," Sam said quietly. Everybody else ordered water or iced tea and the waiter turned to walk away. Sam looked at the menu and groaned. "I don't like that option right there." Sam pointed toward roast duck. "It's far too fattening. After all, Didn't Aunt Vivian Inhale Ducks? Look how she turned out." Emily raised her eyebrow and looked over at Sam.

"What? You have an Aunt Vivian?" Emily asked. Sam looked over at Derek and Casey, they were reading the menu, Chance was looking at Sam with his arms crossed and Tiphanie was staring at her menu as if staring right through it. 

"Don't worry about it," Tiphanie said with a smile. 

"Yeah, let's just order our food and eat," Chance said with a smile. "No reason to bring up anything like that at the moment." The waiter came back with the drinks and set them around the table.

"Are you guys ready to order?" The waiter asked with a smile. 

"Yes, I'm going to have these Autumn Pork Chops," Derek said with a nod. Casey smiled and ordered the same food.

"Tiphanie and I will have today's special," Chance stated as he closed his menu. 

"I'll have the Chicken and Pepper Stir fry," Sam stated without looking up from the table to glance at the waiter. Emily raised her eyebrow, something seemed odd about the tension that Sam and some of the others had, she glanced at the waiter and frowned. She then smiled and closed her menu.

"I'll take the Baked Lemon Chicken," Emily said. The waiter nodded and took the menus; Emily excused herself and got up from the table. 

"Where's she going?" Casey asked as she raised her eyebrow. "The restroom is_behind_ us." Emily walked over to the host and smiled.

"Ma'am, can we have a different waiter?" 

"Is something the matter with your server?" The host asked with a raised eyebrow.

"There's a bit of tension at my table, I think they don't like the waiter for some reason."

"Okay, I suppose we can give you a different waiter." 

"Thank you." Emily walked back to her seat and sat down.

"So what did you have to do?" Derek asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"I suggested a different waiter."

"Why?"

"I didn't like the guy that was serving us."

"It didn't really matter who the guy was, we're here for the food."

"Yeah, it would make no sense to get worried about who the waiter is," Casey said with a shrug. "It's not like the waiter is going to do anything to us."

"Casey's right." 

"I'm always right, right Derek?" Derek chuckled and took a drink of his water. "That's _right,_ Derek?" Derek shrugged and Casey playfully slapped his arm.

"Here I thought I was always right." Derek set the glass on the table and placed his arm around Casey's shoulders. "Of course, I'd say Casey is right, this time."

"_This_ time, I don't know, I'd say I'm right most of the time."

"Well, that's debatable." 

"Oh, what about when you thought about spiking your hair last year?" Derek chuckled and grinned in response.

"Okay, you were right that time, horrible choice."

"The shirt you wanted to wear a couple weeks ago?"

"Hawaiian never looked good on me…" Sam chuckled and Emily looked away.

"Score two for moi, what's next?" Derek looked at Casey and grinned.

"I know something that I am right about."

"What?"

"You have the most beautiful eyes that I have ever seen."

"Why thank you, Romeo."

"You're welcome…" Derek smirked and leaned close to Casey. "…Juliet."

"I am so glad we don't have that kind of relationship."

"To be honest, I'd rather not wind up like those two." Casey nodded; she then smiled and pointed to Derek.

"Right…now Ivanhoe on the other hand."

"Ivanhoe, let me think…oh, that's the book you had me read not that long after we first met."

"Yeah, and to this day, you _still_ don't get it all right."

"Yeah, but you love me anyway, right?"

"Of course you don't even have to ask that." Casey leaned over and kissed Derek on the lips. "No matter what, you'll always be perfect for me. You may not be any Ivanhoe, but you're definitely better."

"I'll take that as a compliment, milady."

"Do they always act like this?" Emily asked quietly. Tiphanie let out a small chuckle and nodded.

"Yes, but they love each other as you can see," Tiphanie stated.

"True, they honestly do seem like they're in love."

"They should be," Chance said as he crossed his arms. "They've dated for two years and as long as they've dated, they've acted like any normal couple. They've had their ups and they've had their downs but they always seem to come together and mesh perfectly."

"What about you two?" Sam asked as he looked over at Chance and Tiphanie. "You seem pretty close."

"Well to be perfectly honest, we didn't start dating until a few months ago," Tiphanie said with a nervous chuckle. Chance smirked and looked toward Sam and Emily.

"Should I ask about you two?" Chance asked subtly.

"There is _nothing_ between us," Emily said as she raised her hands up. "We just wanted to meet the ones that-"

"The ones that first befriended Casey and Derek," Sam said while abruptly cutting Emily off. She oozed so much nervousness that she was constantly bringing up the fact that Chance and Tiphanie were the ones that brought Casey and Derek together. To be honest, Sam was growing annoyed by it. Emily sighed and glanced sideways, she wished she had Sam's calmness in this situation, she even promised that she wouldn't get nervous or uncomfortable. Sam sighed and closed his eyes. "It's to be expected that one would be slightly nervous in meeting you two, it is only because when meeting someone new, nobody ever really knows how to make that first impression come off smoothly. In reality, nobody ever really needs to worry about first impressions as much as people really do."

"Yeah, that's what I say," Chance said with a slight chuckle. "Tiphanie here was worried about the possibility of meeting you two. She saw you two in the car when you were driving up and she just started sweating, of course, she was caught off guard."

"What about you, Chance?" Tiphanie asked as she narrowed her eyes. "You're no Mr. Calm-and-collected."

"I try, that's the important thing." Chance smiled and Tiphanie shook her head. 

"I'm sure you were wondering how you'd come across when talking to these two, you're just as bad as I am!"

"Well, you _might_ have a point there. I would not know." Sam and Emily chuckled briefly as another waiter came to the table with the food. Sam and Emily blinked when they saw Max setting the food on the table.

"Max?" Emily stated, Max shot a glance at everybody and grinned.

"I'm your new waiter," Max said. "If I can get you anything, I would be happy to so. Uh, none of you are on dates, are you?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business, Max."

"Uh, well my friend was just wondering, actually…" Derek looked over at Max and raised his eyebrow.

"You can tell your _friend_ that nobody here is single," Derek stated. Sam pointed over at Casey as Emily pointed to Derek.

"Yeah, they're with us," Sam and Emily stated. Max raised his eyebrow and shrugged.

"Okay, that seems odd though," Max stated.

"Oh, we're only sitting apart from each other because we want to," Emily said. She looked at Derek and grinned. "I just _love_ when he gazes into my eyes." Chance and Tiphanie blinked and looked at each other. 

"Well, I was just wondering about her." 

"Sorry, Tiphanie is with me," Chance said abruptly as he took a sip from his water. Max shrugged and crossed his arms.

"Well anyway, if you need anything, feel free to let me know." Max turned around and walked off.

"Did you know he worked here?" Casey asked with a look of confusion. Derek shook his head and crossed his arms.

"I had no idea," Derek said quietly. "Oh well, it's not a problem at all. Let's eat and enjoy our meal."

"Yeah, so what are you guys going to do after this?" Emily asked.

"I have a great day planned out," Derek said with a grin. "After we eat here, I'm taking Casey to the movies and then we're going to a place were we can eat dinner and dance. It'll be where we can see the stars."

"There's only one restaurant I know where you can see the stars while you eating and you're going _there_?"

"Yeah, the best place in town. The Brooks Diner, you get to eat on the roof at nights because it is the highest building and town and the best place to see the stars. It's a great place to take a beautiful girl on a date."

"It's also expensive!"

"Well if you ask me, Casey is worth every cent." Derek looked over at Casey and smiled; she kissed Derek and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Okay, I'm confused about one thing," Tiphanie said as she crossed her arms. "That whole deal with this Max guy, what just happened?"

"Emily and I are pretending to be their dates and stuff," Sam said as he took a bite of his food. "This is really good."

"What? Why?"

"They're too afraid to ruin their parent's marriage by saying they're boyfriend and girlfriend. So they're going to allow themselves to become stepsiblings and continue dating from there."

"You know, eventually you're going to have to tell them." Tiphanie took a bite of her food and sighed. "I mean, I'm sure you wouldn't want to wait until something really bad was to happen."

"What could happen?" Casey asked with a shrug. "We'll tell them when the time is right."

"That's your choice." Tiphanie looked at Casey and smiled. "I hope you two have a lot of fun tonight." Casey smiled and looked at Derek.

"Oh we'll have fun alright. I bet we can make that fun continue throughout the night." Casey smirked suggestively and Derek let out a chuckle. "I know, I know, we don't want to go too far. However, I'm sure it doesn't matter as long as we don't-" Chance and Sam cleared their throats quickly.

"Trying to eat here, you guys," Chance said quickly.

"Yeah, so, save that talk for later, please," Sam said with a halfhearted grin. Derek chuckled once more and cut his meat.

"Don't worry Casey, we'll see what happens. You never know just what fun there is to be had in the bedroom," Derek stated. Sam, Emily, Chance and Tiphanie all let out a groan.

"How did you guys stand this?" Emily whispered as she leaned in toward Tiphanie.

"You get used to it over time," Tiphanie said quietly. "Of course, there are times we think they do that just to get under our skin. We'll never truly know." 

"Sam, Emily, how would you guys like to join us later on in the park?" Chance asked as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "We should get to know each other, that might be kind of fun."

"Yeah, I'm up for that," Sam said with a nod. 

"As long as I don't have to hear anymore dirty jokes, I'm happy," Emily responded with a light chuckle.

------------------------

Dang, I wonder what Max was doing there, probably just works there and who the heck is Aunt Vivian and what does it have to does Inhaling Ducks have to do with anything? I don't know, but let me tell ya, you're going to enjoy the next chapter 

Here are the recipes for the foods that were ordered, I found them off of the same site as the others in the previous chapter.

Autumn Pork Chops  
1 medium acorn squash -- cut into 6 rings and seeded  
2 tablespoons margarine or butter  
6 pork loin or rib chops -- about 1/2 inch thick  
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano  
OR  
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano  
1/2 teaspoon salt  
1/8 teaspoon pepper  
1 medium onion -- sliced  
2 medium unpeeled cooking apples -- cut into wedges  
2 tablespoons honey  
2 tablespoons water

Heat oven to 375º. Place squash in ungreased rectangular baking dish, 13 ×  
9 × 2 inches. Heat 1 tablespoon of the margarine in 10-inch skillet over  
medium heat until melted. Cook pork, turning once, until brown. Place pork  
on top of squash; sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper. Place onion on  
pork; top with apple. Mix honey and water; pour over apples. Dot with  
remaining 1 tablespoon margarine. Cover and bake 50 to 60 minutes or until  
pork is no longer pink in center and squash is tender. Serve pan drippings  
with pork if desired.

Chicken n Pepper Stir-fry  
2 tablespoons soy sauce  
2 tablespoons ketchup  
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger  
2 cloves garlic -- finely chopped  
3 skinless boneless chicken breast halves -- thinly sliced (about 3/4 pound)  
2 tablespoons vegetable oil  
6 green onions -- cut into 1-inch pieces  
1 medium green bell pepper -- thinly sliced  
1 medium red bell pepper -- thinly sliced  
4 cups hot cooked Chinese noodles  
OR  
4 cups hot cooked rice

Mix soy sauce, ketchup, ginger and garlic in resealable heavy-duty plastic  
bag. Add chicken; seal bag and turn to coat with marinade. Let stand 15  
minutes. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in 10-inch skillet or wok over  
medium-high heat. Add green onions and bell peppers; stir-fry until  
crisp-tender. Remove from skillet. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in  
skillet. Add chicken; stir-fry 4 to 5 minutes or until no longer pink in  
center. Stir in bell pepper mixture. Serve with noodles.

Baked Lemon Chicken  
1 pound skinless boneless chicken breast halves (4  
halves)  
1 egg white  
1 teaspoon water  
1/4 cup all-purpose flour  
1 teaspoon baking soda  
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne) -- if desired (1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon)  
Chinese Lemon Sauce -- (recipe follows)  
Chopped green onions and lemon slices

CHINESE LEMON SAUCE  
1/3 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth  
1/4 cup sugar  
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel  
3 tablespoons lemon juice  
2 tablespoons rice vinegar  
2 tablespoons light corn syrup  
1 clove garlic -- finely chopped  
OR  
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder  
1/4 teaspoon salt  
2 teaspoons cornstarch  
2 teaspoons cold water

Cut breasts crosswise in half. Mix egg white and water in medium bowl. Add  
chicken; turn chicken to coat. Let stand 10 minutes. Heat oven to 450º.  
Spray nonstick cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Remove chicken  
from egg white mixture; discard mixture. Mix flour, baking soda and red  
pepper in plastic bag. Add 1 chicken piece at a time. Seal bag and shake  
to coat chicken. Place chicken on cookie sheet; spray with cooking spray  
about 5 seconds or until surface of chicken appears moist.

Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until juice of chicken is no longer  
pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut. Meanwhile, prepare Chinese  
Lemon Sauce. Let chicken stand 5 minutes; cut each piece crosswise into  
about 5 slices. Pour sauce over chicken. Garnish with green onion and  
lemon slices.

CHINESE LEMON SAUCE:

Heat broth, sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice, vinegar, corn syrup, garlic  
and salt to boiling in 1-quart saucepan, stirring occasionally. Mix  
cornstarch and cold water; stir into sauce. Cook and stir about 30 seconds  
or until thickened. Serve warm, or cover and refrigerate up to 2 weeks.


	15. The Blood Red Moon

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in_Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 14 (The Blood Red Moon)

Max stepped into the cafeteria of the restaurant and met up with the man in the hat. "Well, it seems like Casey is with Sam but then after that it didn't seem right."

"What are you talking about, Max?"

"It seems confusing but why do I always have to do your dirty work?"

"Shut up, you'll do whatever I say you're going to do. Do you forget that I can help you with whatever you want? Do you remember who helped you get onto the football team, Max? It was me, David Brooks." Max sighed and rolled his eyes, David's father was incredibly rich and David had a lot of influence in the city. Two years ago, David helped Max get on the football team and the two became good friends after that. David liked Casey and was annoyed when he learned that Casey was going to be meeting up with Derek, he had Max try to get Derek interested in women around the school but it had failed.David had spiked blond hair and a muscles of a wrestler, not only that, he was also a spoiled brat, but nobody would ever say that about him. If ever someone said something bad about David, they had a tendency to go away very quickly. The last person to say something against Derek wound up dropping out of the school and taking up home school. "Tell me, what did you see out there, Max?"

"Well, after I left the table, I saw Derek and Casey flirting about with each other, I started to listen in and somehow I wish I didn't."

"So they are together then."

"Yeah, I think they've been together for the last two years and I get the feeling it's been more romantic than all that appears. They probably have been in bed with each other, that's how romantically involved they sound. I believe they're going various places on a date today. After they leave here they will be going to a movie and after the movie they will be eating dinner at some fancy restaurant and then they will be dancing underneath the stars. The name of the place is Brooks Diner." 

"That's my father's diner." David looked up with a grin. "So Derek will be dancing under the stars with Casey McDonald, the girl who was meant for me, it will be the last time he ever dances under the stars with her, or dances at all."

"What do you mean?" David smirked and patted Max on the back. 

"We, or should I say _you_ will be removing Derek from the picture, permanently."

"Really, I will? How will I go about doing this?" David put his hand in his jacket.

"I usually keep this around for protection, you don't know who will try and mug you. However, I think I shall let this serve a bigger and better purpose." Max's eyes widened as David pulled out a 9mm, revolver pistol. He gulped slightly and took the gun in his hand, sweat dripped down his forehead.

"W-What am I going to do with this?"

"Tonight, Max…" David started to walk away and stopped at the doorway, he turned slightly and looked at Max from the side. "Tonight you will wipe Derek out of the picture and my father's restaurant. You will shoot him and make sure he's dead. In the end, I will be the one who gets Casey; after all, she was my girlfriend from the start. Do not disappoint me, Max; you _don't_ want to let down your best friend, do you?"

"No, I'll do it, but won't I get in trouble?"

"Oh, there will be witnesses…Don't worry about it though, I suppose I can explain to them that you were legally insane."

"What?"

"Yeah, legally insane, I'm sure that will be fine, won't it?" Max stared down at the pistol that lay in his hands, he imagined Derek lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the chest. Soon his vision changed and a large square area appeared and quickly turned to red, Brooks Diner appeared and suddenly became encased with red as blood started to flow from the top of the building. The blood flowed down the streets along with tears belonging to Casey; it covered the homes and ate everything in sight. Soon the entire globe became encased in red blood and the image of Casey appeared to be crying over the world as it vanished entirely. "Max, Max are you there?"

"Uh…yeah…"

"So will you do this?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I? Casey belongs to you, right? That bastard is of course, trespassing on your territory, I'll gladly help you out…"

"Thank you, I can always count on you, Max." Max continued to stare into space as David walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. Soon another image appeared in Max's head, the image of Casey holding what looked to be a world of some sort. A hole appeared in it and red liquid flowed out of the globe and encased the thing in crimson. The crimson fluid vanished and took the world with it, Casey began to cry hysterically. Max gulped slightly, he had to do this, there was no other way he could go. He needed to put the images out of his head, he didn't like Derek anyway, so he would take Derek's life and David would have Casey for himself. Max was willingly going to destroy Casey's world with a single shot from a 9mm pistol. 

00000000000000

"Edwin, I'm worried," Lizzie said as she stared out the window. Edwin raised his eyebrow as he walked over to Lizzie.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know Derek is on a date with Emily and Casey's on a date with Sam. I also know that Casey's going on a date with her boyfriend to Brooks Diner and that diner is owned by David Brooks."

"Who is he?"

"Casey's ex boyfriend, he was obsessed with her and he's a very cruel and vile person. Not only that but tonight there is a bloodied moon outside, all signs point to danger." Edwin shook his head and hugged Lizzie.

"Don't worry; there is probably nothing that will happen."

"I've seen a blood red moon before and every time I've seen it, something bad happens. Edwin, what if something bad happens to Casey?"

"I don't think there's anything to worry about…"

"Lizzie, Edwin!" Marti exclaimed as she ran from the kitchen. 

"What is it?" Lizzie asked as she turned around.

"There is blood red moon out!"

"I know that, I just saw it."

"Dang, you guys really are superstitious," Edwin stated as he crossed his arms. Lizzie looked into Edwin's eyes with a deep look of fear.

"Sometimes Edwin, superstition is something to think about."

00000000000000

Derek and Casey arrived at the top of Brooks Diner and sat at a table, Casey smiled and looked into the sky. She saw what appeared to be a bloodshot moon. "Interesting, I guess there's an eclipse tonight," Casey said as she wrapped her arm around Derek's arm and smiled. 

"Yeah, that could be the case," Derek said with a brief nod.

"It resembles a bloody moon; I don't like it so much for some reason."

"I wouldn't know what to tell you, it's a regular sight to see when it's an eclipse."

"I know. Yet, for some reason it seems different, almost scary to look at. It's as though there's a warning or something about that moon."

"A warning, you think it's a warning for something?" Derek raised his eyebrow and looked up at the moon. He had to admit, it did have a creepy feel to it. He shrugged it off as nothing to worry about. A slow song began to play so Derek stood up and took Casey's hand. "Care to dance, Casey?"

"Sure." Casey stood up and wrapped her arms around Derek's neck as he placed one hand on her upper back and the other hand on her lower back. Casey rested her head on Derek's shoulder as the circled with the music. "It's such a beautiful night."

"You're beautiful." Casey smiled and brought her lips to Derek's lips and participated in a deep kiss. After several minutes of dancing, Casey glanced over to the side and gasped. "What's wrong?"

"I see Max…" Derek released Casey and turned around, Max was staring at Derek with his hand in his jacket.

"Hello Derek Venturi," Max said darkly. "It sure is a beautiful night out tonight. It's perfect for…" Casey's eyes grew wide and Derek's face hardened as Max pulled a pistol slowly from his jacket. "…Your death." Max pointed the gun at Derek and clenched his teeth tightly, Derek stared at the gun and Casey let out a quick gasp.

"Don't do anything you will regret, Max," Derek said quietly. He held his arm out and took a step toward Max. "Hand me the gun." By now every bystander that was on the roof was staring in shock. "You don't want to do this; you don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do. If I don't, he'll do me in."

"Who will hurt you?"

"David." Derek raised his eyebrow and stopped walking; he frowned and shook his head.

"You are no slave to David. Come on, Max, we used to be friends, there's no reason to do this."

"I'm sorry Derek, but this has to happen. No more stalling!" Casey shouted as Max pulled the trigger, Derek closed his eyes expecting a bullet to go through him. He heard a thud and his eyes shot open, he saw Casey lying on the ground, she was bleeding from the chest area. Max's eyes grew wide as Derek began to seethe with rage.

"Max! What the hell have you done?"

"I-I…I shot Casey…I wasn't supposed to…" 

"Goddamn it Max!" Max looked over at Derek and was caught by surprise as Derek charged toward Max and punched him hard in the abdomen. Max stumbled backwards and smirked.

"So you're going to fight me?" Max chuckled and charged toward Derek. Derek dodged out of the way and kicked Max in the back. "You're dead Derek!"

"Shut up! Why did you shoot her!"

"I was aiming for you, Venturi. David wanted the girl all to himself, he wanted you out of the picture."

"You know, you could redeem yourself. You're only being David's lackey. I can tell you don't want to do his dirty work, you're going to be the one in trouble for shooting somebody."

"Shut the hell up!" Max swiftly aimed the gun at Derek and chuckled. Derek quickly charged and kicked Max once more. Max stumbled backwards and fell off the side of the building. "Crap!" Max grabbed the edge of the building and Derek rushed over to the side and held out his arm.

"Max, come on, drop the gun and grab my hand. You don't have to die for David."

"I'm already screwed, Venturi. I've shot his girl in front of several people, whether she lives or not, he'll have my head. There's no way I'm ever going to be successful in school now and furthermore, I'll be going to jail." Max looked down and then back to Derek with a smirk. "However, I have no intention of dying. You however, will die tonight." Max brought up his arm and aimed his gun toward Derek.

"Crap!" Derek ducked out of the way as Max pulled the trigger, the force of the gunfire caused Max's body to jerk from the building. Derek shook his head and swiftly ran over to Casey. "Casey, please be okay!" Derek took Casey's hand and saw her eyes open slowly.

"Am I alive?" Casey asked.

"Yes, you're alive. You're alive, Casey and you're going to stay alive."

"I love you Derek…"

"I love you too, don't worry, help is coming." Derek saw Casey close her eyes, he closed his eyes and tears escaped his eyes as sirens were heard running down the street. Back at the house, Edwin, Lizzie and Marti stared up at the blood red moon with fear in their eyes.

* * *

I hope you liked the chapter, though for some reason it seemed a lot like an Italian mafia movie or something, it must be the use of the name Venturi. Venturi actually sounds Italian and the name Casey sounds kind of like what the wife of the Godfather would have. Perhaps I've watched too much of The Godfather. Well let me know what you thought, I know that's a cruel cliffhanger to leave you at so I'll leave you with some news that you can take as good or bad, your choice. nobody dies in this chapter.


	16. Pregnancy and Danger

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in_Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 15 (Pregnancy and Danger)

"You can tend to my wound here," Derek said sharply as he sat in the hospital room. He looked at Casey who was lying in the hospital bed, Max's last bullet had hit him in the arm and the nurses were trying to get him to go into a different wound. "I am not leaving this room until she wakes up, do I make myself clear?"

"But sir, you really shouldn't stay in here," The nurse said.

"Someone just tried to kill my girlfriend; do you honestly expect me to leave her alone in this room?"

"I thought the primary target was you, sir?"

"All you need to do is put a bandage on my arm, right?"

"Yes. You and the woman there will be able to leave tonight, if she wakes up tonight that is."

"If she doesn't wake up tonight…" Derek sighed, he couldn't stay in the room all night but he wanted to be there for her when Casey awoke. _"Damn it Max, why the hell did you have to go and ruin what was supposed to be a perfect night for Casey?"_

"Fine, if you're insistent on us bandaging your arm here, then we will!"

"Thank you." The nurse sighed and inspected Derek's wounded arm, she put some antibiotic on a swab and cleansed Derek's wound. His body shifted slightly when the swab made contact with the wound, the doctors had removed the bullet earlier so all that was left to do was clean the wound and bandage it. The nurse brought out a bandage and wrapped it around Derek's arm.

"There, the bandage is on."

"Thank you, you don't mind if I have a little time alone, do you?"

"Actually I have some questions," A doctor said as he walked in the room. He gestured for the nurse to leave. "That will be all, thank you ma'am." The nurse nodded and walked out of the door and the doctor sat on a stool in front of Derek. "So, this girl, how old is she?"

"Eighteen, sir, I am eighteen as well."

"Really, are you high school graduates?"

"Not quite yet, we are seniors in high school."

"So, are you two married or related or what? What is your relation with this young girl?"

"She is my girlfriend." The doctor nodded and rubbed his chin as he glanced at the clipboard. "My father will be marrying her mother in a few days."

"I see…That must be difficult given your situation. I was in a similar predicament actually." Derek raised his eyebrow as the doctor crossed his arms and smiled. "My wife…she was a stepsibling."

"That's very…interesting to know Dr…"

"Dr. Williams is my name."

"It's good to meet you, I am Derek Venturi."

"Yes, that's what they said. Now, the police will not bother you or your girlfriend because there were at least fifty other people that know you were only fighting in self defense and they assume the attacker is still at large."

"What?"

"The man's body should have been sprawled on the pavement, but he was nowhere to be found."

"I understand…" Derek crossed his arms and looked over at Casey. Dr. Williams smiled and looked over.

"You love her, do you not?"

"More than anything in this world, Doctor. I've known her for a few years now and there is nothing more important to me than she is."

"That's good to hear, do you have any intention of marrying her?"

"Uh, isn't that a personal question?"

"Do your parents know about your relationship?"

"No. We don't know how or when we're going to tell them. We don't want to ruin their relationship." 

"Uh-huh, I see…" Dr. Williams looked down at the clipboard and sighed. "You realize you're going to have to tell them."

"I know, and everyone's been saying that."

"I'm serious though, you will _have_ to tell them now. Did you realize that this girl is…pregnant." Derek coughed and his eyes widened.

"What!" Derek looked over at the Doctor and the doctor just sighed.

"I take it you did not."

"To be honest, she took a test a few weeks ago that said she was pregnant. Then she took a second test and it came out negative."

"Ah, the old double check trick. Do it once but if the second says no then you're not pregnant. In these cases it is best to see a gynecologist and make sure it's right. Casey McDonald is nearly three months pregnant." Derek looked over at Casey with a mix of shock and joy on his face.

"W-What about…"

"They're fine."

"What?" Dr. Williams closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief to comfort Derek.

"The bullet didn't get anywhere near Casey's womb, the babies are fine." Derek stood up slowly with wide eyes.

"_Babies_, as in plural, how many!"

"If they're your babies…"

"Of course they're mine!"

"Good to hear, you are the proud father of twins." A wide grin spread onto Derek's face, Casey was pregnant with twins. He didn't know how the second test would have missed something like that, but it didn't matter now because he knew that she was pregnant and with twins. He frowned when he thought about how close it came to him losing Casey, not only her but the twins that she carried in her womb. They would also have to explain that to their parents.

"I'm going to be a father; I can make use of that ring now. I was going to propose to her after time but now I'm going to do so even quicker."

"Do you know how you'll explain it to your parents?"

"I have no clue to be perfectly honest." Derek walked over to Casey's side and took her hand in his. She opened her eyes and looked up to Derek with a smile. "You're okay, Casey."

"Derek, what happened?" Derek brought Casey's hand up and kissed it.

"Max happened, don't think of it though." Dr. Williams stood up and grinned.

"You two are free to go home tonight, when you're ready to leave, a nurse will escort you to your car via a wheelchair." Derek nodded as the doctor left the room.

"Derek, did you drive here?" Casey asked.

"Yeah, I followed the ambulance." Casey lifted her hand and rubbed Derek's arm.

"You're hurt…"

"Ah, it's not a big deal right now."

"I'm sorry…"

"Casey, relax, everyone is safe now. Besides, my wound isn't that serious."

"I thought I was going to die..." Derek knelt toward Casey's level as she sat up. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face and caressed her cheek.

"I'll never allow you to die. I can't allow any harm to come to you, you're okay now and that's the important thing. I think we're going to have to tell Sam and Emily they can stop pretending to date us."

"What do you mean?"

"Casey, you…we are going to be parents."

"What?"

"That first test was correct. You're pregnant with twins." Casey smiled as Derek hugged her.

"I can't believe this, this is great. Well, nothing can be said to say how happy I am about this but what will we tell George and mom?"

"Do you remember those fears we had about our stepparent; I think we don't have to worry so much about your stepfather killing me or my stepmother shunning you."

"Yeah I figured that out a while back." Derek's phone began to ring, so he quickly answered it.

"Hello?"

"Derek!" Edwin exclaimed. "Where are you guys?"

"We're in the hospital…"

"What! Tell me something bad didn't happen. Lizzie and Marti were going crazy about that dumb moon. I think Lizzie's been telling Marti a little too much about superstitions."

"What did she say about them?"

"She said that the red moon was a sign of something bad to come. She said that when she put that in place with the fact that Casey and Sam were going to the diner, it was the place that one of Casey's exes owned."

"Not to worry you, but did you miss the part where I said we were in the hospital."

"Damn, well can you guys get home, _now?_"

"Why? What's wrong Edwin?"

"Marti's crying in her bedroom and Lizzie is freaking out." Casey looked at Derek with a worried look and Derek rubbed the back of his head. Edwin seemed to be talking quickly.

"Edwin, calm down and take a deep breath, what is wrong?"

"Okay, well I'm trying to calm the girls down; I've made sure all the lights were off…"

"Edwin…"

"There's this guy who is standing outside. He showed up an hour ago and knocked on the door; he then stood outside for ten minutes and then knocked on the door again. He keeps knocking on the door every ten minutes or so. Did I mention the part about Lizzie freaking out and Marti is crying in her bedroom? I'm going insane with two girls in here that are freaking _me_ out."

"Edwin right now you need to remain calm for them. Keep doing what you're doing. Keep the girls calm, don't answer the damn door, stay away from the windows and we will be there in…thirty minutes tops."

"It takes only fifteen to twenty minutes to get here from the hospital." Derek sighed and shook his head.

"It's going to take a little while longer because I need to take care of Casey first."

"Why? What happened?" Derek sighed and rubbed his forehead. Derek looked over at Casey and frowned.

"Casey, call a nurse and tell her you're ready to leave, we'll get you to the car, we need to get home."

"Derek, what happened?"

"Edwin, I want you to promise not to tell Lizzie any of this right now. Can you do that?"

"Now you're freaking me out."

"Edwin?"

"Yes."

"Casey and I were targeted tonight…Casey's been shot…"

"What!" Derek heard Lizzie shout in the background and Edwin tried to calm her down. "Sorry Derek, she heard me shout and wanted to know what was wrong."

"Remain calm…" A nurse came in and helped Casey into the wheelchair, Derek walked with them into the hotel parking lot and into the car. "Edwin, Casey is fine."

"Can I talk to her?" Derek put the phone to Casey's ear.

"Hey Edwin, are you okay?"

"Yeah, for now, it's good to hear your voice." Derek pulled the phone back to his ear and started up the car. He then began to drive away from the hospital.

"Edwin, it's me again," Derek said quietly. "As I was saying Casey was shot and I was shot in the arm, but we are okay."

"What about Sam and Emily, were you guys at the same place?"

"No, it was just me and Casey. They do not know anything about this."

"Only you two, why was it only you two?"

"It just was. I'll explain it when we get there, Edwin."

"Explain it now, please."

"Okay fine. Emily is not my real girlfriend never has been. Casey is in love with the man she dated two years-"

"Max?"

"No! _Me_!"

"…What?"

"Listen, Casey and I have been dating for two years and we didn't want to tell dad and Nora because we were afraid of ruining their relationship. We're going to find a way to tell them but until then, do not mention a word of this."

"Okay, that's not so bad, I mean it's not like she's pregnant or anything…" 

"Uh, Edwin…"

"What?" 

"She _is."_

"Hey Derek, I think the person left!" 

"He's not there anymore?"

"No, he's gone. I don't see him anywhere."

"Okay, good. Make sure the girls stay in their rooms or somewhere until we get back. We are almost home anyway."

"Good." Derek drove into the driveway and hung up the phone, he walked to the other side of the car and helped Casey out.

"Derek, what was happening?" Casey asked with concern in her eyes.

"Edwin and the girls saw a strange person outside that was hanging around for an hour, he says the person is gone now." Casey took a breath of relief as she and Derek walked to the door.

"Good." Derek unlocked the door and walked inside, he turned on the lights and looked around.

"Okay guys, it's me, Derek, you can come out now!" Edwin, Lizzie and Marti all walked downstairs, Marti quickly ran over to Derek and hugged him.

"I was so scared," Marti said quickly. "But Edwin kept us all calm."

"That's good, and he called us too. Edwin, you did a good thing."

"Thanks Derek."

"Okay, let's all get some sleep." Derek turned around and locked the door as everyone walked upstairs. "Dad and Nora should be back tomorrow." Derek and Casey tucked Marti into bed and Casey gave Marti a kiss on the forehead.

"Now sleep well, Marti," Casey said with a smile.

"Goodnight," Marti said as she hugged her stuffed animal and turned to the side. Derek closed Marti's door as he and Casey left the room. They looked into Lizzie's room and then Edwin's room to make sure all was safe. 

"Well Derek, this has been a long and harrowing day. The dates however, were fun." Derek smiled and wrapped his arms around Casey.

"I'm glad, because I wouldn't have those any other way. I love you Casey."

"I love you too Derek, goodnight." Derek kissed Casey on the lips and watched as she walked into her bedroom. Derek walked into his bedroom and lay on the bed.

_"Dad and Nora will be back tomorrow, we will have to tell them all then. God, why do I feel a breeze?"_ Derek looked over at his window and saw that it was wide open, his eyes shot open as he remembered the ladder that had been installed on his side of the house. "Damn it!" Derek shot out of the bed and threw his door open, he looked down the hallway and ran for Casey's room. "Casey!" Derek opened her door and looked around, she was gone. "Crap!"

"Derek, what's wrong?" Edwin asked as he walked next to Derek.

"Did you catch a good look at that person, Edwin?"

"I think he had spiky blonde hair, but that was all I ever saw."

"Damn it! He has Casey!" Derek ran down the stairs and saw the living room door wide open. "No!" Derek looked back and saw Edwin standing at the top of the stairway. "Go to bed Edwin, I'm going to get Casey! If I'm not back by tomorrow, I'm still looking."

"Wait, what?" Derek ran out of the house and closed the door, he made sure to lock it and he quickly ran into his car. Edwin blinked as Lizzie and Marti walked over to Edwin.

"Edwin, what's going on?" Lizzie asked.

"Where did Derek go?" Marti asked. "Where is Casey?" Edwin turned around and glanced into Derek's room. He saw the window open and his eyes widened.

_"No…it can't be,"_ Edwin thought as he ran into Derek's room and looked out the window. There was the ladder, shining in the moonlight. Edwin slowly closed the window and locked it. "Lizzie, make sure _all_ the windows in this house are closed and locked. Marti, you need to get to bed."

"What's going on?"

"On second thought, I'll close all the windows, Lizzie; you put Marti to bed and meet me in the living room." Lizzie nodded and walked with Marti into the bedroom. Edwin ran through the house and made sure all windows and doors were shut and locked, he closed whatever curtains he could find and quickly sat on the living room couch after turning on the lamp. Lizzie walked down the stairs, Edwin could see tear marks on her face.

"What is going on, Edwin?" Lizzie asked. Edwin stood up and hugged Lizzie tightly.

"Lizzie, be happy it's not a school night right now. We are going to be staying up tonight and keeping watch in shifts."

"Why won't you tell me what's going on?"

"I don't want to worry you; I don't really know what's going on either. All I know is that man out there is probably not such a good person and I don't think he ever left."

"Oh my god…"

"Turn the television on but let's keep the volume low. I'll wake you in an hour and then you can do the same for me, but we're going to have to make sure neither of us falls asleep. Marti is asleep, right?"

"Edwin, she was crying hysterically just now, but she is asleep. She's scared, and to tell the truth, I'm scared also." Edwin hugged Lizzie as they sat on the couch.

"I know you are. Don't worry though, it's going to be okay, everything will be fine."

"Thanks for the comfort." Edwin nodded as he turned on the television and put the volume on low. Lizzie rested her head on Edwin's shoulder and closed her eyes as Edwin flipped through the channels and stopped on the news.

* * *

There's the chapter, tell me your thoughts, hope you liked it. The story's getting even more interesting it appears and you have to admit that little part with Edwin and Lizzie is...dare I say it..._cute_. I hope I made Edwin's personality right and all though, he's taking responsibility here and having to calm Marti down and such. Yeah I think I have him right. Stick around for the next chapter! 


	17. More Troubles and Delays

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 16 (More Troubles and Delays)

"Edwin, Lizzie, wake up!" Marti exclaimed. Edwin opened his eyes and looked over at Lizzie, her head resting on his shoulder. Edwin tapped Lizzie on the shoulder and she let out a shaky yawn.

"What happened?" Lizzie asked. She looked over and jumped up. "Did I fall asleep on…you?"

"Its fine, Lizzie." Edwin slowly stood up and looked at Marti, her eyes were puffy and cheeks stained red. "Uh, good morning Marti, what time is it?"

"It's noontime!" Marti exclaimed. She sniffed and hugged Edwin. "They're not home Edwin, Derek and Casey never came back!" Edwin looked up at Lizzie and frowned; now Lizzie looked worried.

"Edwin, do you know what's going on? Are you sure you don't know anything?" Lizzie asked. "This isn't like Casey or Derek, why are they still missing?"

"Derek may not have found Casey," Edwin said quietly.

"Edwin, there's something you're not telling me. You should not hide things from me, last night I saw Derek's arm bandaged up, did he tell you why?"

"Derek's arm was bandaged?" Marti asked with wide eyes. Marti started to cry again. Edwin quickly hugged Marti and patted her on the back.

"No, Marti, don't worry about it. Derek and Casey aren't back yet and neither is dad? Could you go up to your room for a second, Lizzie and I will be up there to talk to you, but I need to tell Lizzie something first."

"O-Okay, but do you promise to tell me what's going on after this?" Edwin smiled sadly and rubbed his chin.

"When I don't even know what is happening myself, there is no way I could possibly explain everything to you. Just relax Marti; I know you're afraid right now, that's normal. There isn't anything I can say to make you stop fearing, but what I can say is that everything will be just fine in the end."

"How can you promise something like that? You don't even know what's going on; I'm scared that the man will come back." Edwin placed his hands on Marti's shoulders and sighed.

"I have a feeling that that man will not return to this house. Dad and Nora should be here soon and then you don't need to fear that stranger again."

"I'm afraid for Derek and Casey…"

"I know, Marti, I know…"

"Just promise to come upstairs soon." Edwin nodded as Marti turned and walked up the stairs.

"Lizzie, you may want to sit down." Lizzie nodded and took a seat on the couch as Edwin turned to her. "Derek didn't want me to tell you this because he was afraid of causing too much worry, I don't want Marti to hear this. Last night Derek and Casey were at Brooks Diner and Max shot them."

"What?" Lizzie asked with wide eyes.

"Derek was the primary target, Casey jumped in the path and was shot in the chest. A fight between Derek and Max was started and Max wound up being kicked off the building. Of course, Max did manage to hit Derek in the arm. I saw the scene last night on the news by the way."

"Oh my god…So they were at the hospital last night?"

"Yes, and Lizzie, they're boyfriend and girlfriend."

"I suspected that."

"They've been together for two years and Casey is pregnant."

"What!"

"Apparently she's pregnant with twins. Derek told me they were afraid of how the parents would react. Now they will have to tell dad and Nora somehow." Lizzie stared at the ground for a minute and let out a sigh.

"Edwin, you don't think that guy, David has something to do with this?"

"David, do you mean that guy that Casey dated?"

"Yes."

"I think you should tell me something about him."

"You know about David. He was obsessed with Casey, when they dated though, he cheated on her and she broke up with David. David still thought they were together and he was always hanging around her and wanting to go out with her and stuff."

"Derek mentioned something about 'he took her' when talking about Casey, do you think he knows who David is? Do you think that is what happened last night?"

"I don't know."

"What does David look like?"

"He has some muscles and spiky blonde hair."

"It's very possible that the stranger that was around last night was David. This means that if it _was_ David, Casey was abducted by him last night and Derek went to chase after him. Chances are that he hasn't found them yet."

"Edwin, what are we going to tell Marti? I don't want her to be afraid, but I also know that she shouldn't be left out." Edwin nodded and took Lizzie's hand in his as he stood up with her.

"Everything will be fine, Lizzie. I don't know what's going to happen, but I know everything will be just fine." The two walked upstairs and walked into Marti's room. "Hey Marti, how are you faring?" Marti was lying on the bed, she looked up at Edwin and smiled halfheartedly.

"Did you know Derek and Casey were dating?" Marti asked. Edwin and Lizzie raised their eyebrows and looked at Marti curiously.

"You knew that?" Edwin asked.

"Derek told me the other night through a story. I also learned about David."

"So Derek knew David?" Edwin asked as he raised his eyebrow. "Lizzie, I think right now we all should just remain calm. I believe David is responsible for some of the things that has happened."

"What?"

"That man that was outside last night was probably David."

"If so, we don't have to worry about him coming back to the house again," Lizzie said as she crossed her arms. "That's not all though."

"What else is there?" Marti asked with a shaky voice.

"Casey is pregnant," Edwin said as he crossed his arms. "Derek is the father."

"What!" Edwin was about to say something more but stopped when the phone began to ring. Everyone walked downstairs to where the answering machine was. They waited until Nora's voice came from the speaker.

"Is anybody there?" Nora asked. Edwin sighed and picked up the phone.

"Hello Nora," Edwin said quietly. "How are you?"

"Not so great, Edwin, we could be doing better."

"What happened?"

"We got delayed."

"What?"

"There's no possible way for us to get back home for another two days."

"What!" Lizzie and Marti looked at Edwin with concerned looks in their eyes, Edwin rubbed his forehead and sighed.

"I'm terribly sorry, is Derek there?"

"He's uh…He and Casey are asleep right now."

"Oh, well how are things going with them?"

"Great, things are going great…"

"Good, I'd just hate for something bad to happen because we wouldn't be able to get there."

"Yeah…I'd just hate for something bad to happen while you're away as well." Edwin's eyes narrowed and he shook his head sadly.

"I'm terribly sorry for this, Edwin. How are the girls?"

"They're not doing too badly."

"Can I talk to one of them?" Edwin sighed and handed the phone to Lizzie.

"Hello mom?" Lizzie stated.

"Lizzie, how are you!"

"Just great, I've never been better."

"How is Casey doing?"

"I suppose moody is a good word." Lizzie chuckled inwardly. _"At least she'll be getting moody."_

"I wonder what other teenage drama she's dealing with."

"Well I think she saw David the other day, remember him?"

"Oh yeah, I never liked that guy."

"Me either." Lizzie heard the phone beep and she raised her eyebrow. "I think there is someone else calling."

"Let the answering machine pick up. It'll do that while you're talking to me." Lizzie nodded and the answering machine beeped.

"Edwin! Lizzie! One of you pick up!" Derek exclaimed. "Pick up damn it!" Lizzie's eyes widened and she looked over at Edwin.

"Mom, I have to change the phone lines," Lizzie said quickly. Lizzie pressed a button on the phone. "Derek, are you there?"

"Lizzie, has dad and Nora come back yet?" Derek asked.

"No."

"Have you heard from them yet?"

"Yeah, they're delayed for another two days."

"Crap!"

"What's wrong Derek?"

"Put Edwin on the phone."

"Derek, you can tell me. Please, tell me and don't make us worry anymore."

"Okay fine, David's the one that nabbed Casey last night. There's one slight problem, I've been caught by Max."

"What!"

"Max is still alive of course. He caught me and now I'm kind of trapped in a prison like area, he forgot to take my cell phone away from me, but its battery is dying. Do you have a pen and paper or something?"

"Sure, but what do you want me to do?"

"I'm giving you directions to give to dad and Nora when they get back home."

"We can't wait that long…Marti is completely upset right now." Lizzie sighed as she pulled out a pen and hovered over the paper.

"I want you to give these to either the police or dad; I'm underneath the old abandoned warehouse on Maple Street. That is down the street a couple miles from here, you take a left on Grind Street, then a right on Lace Avenue and you keep driving until you see an ugly and gray looking building."

"I have all those down."

"Good, give that to a police officer, do you understand that much?"

"Yeah Derek…I'll do that." Lizzie hung up the phone and looked at Edwin. "Edwin, I can't believe what is happening. I don't want to believe what is happening."

"I know that," Edwin said as he crossed his arms. "I also know that no police officer is going to follow this until Derek has been missing for at least a day. By then, both Derek and Casey could…" Edwin looked over at Marti and frowned as he looked over at Lizzie.

"So what are we going to do?" Lizzie asked quietly.

"I don't know. I will think of something, though."

"Edwin, Lizzie, are we ever going to see Derek and Casey again?" Marti asked. Edwin and Lizzie looked at Marti and back at each other; Edwin clenched his fists and started to walk toward the kitchen.

"We will see them again, why wouldn't we? Everything is going to be just fine, and I'm not just saying that." Edwin sighed and crossed his arms. _"I may have a plan."_

00000000000000000

Ah there's the chapter, I wonder what Edwin has in mind. Dang, Derek got caught and the parents wont be back for two days. Well, the next chapter will be up as soon as I write and and can get it up.


	18. Edwin's Anger Rises

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 17 (Edwin's Anger Rises)

"Lizzie, where did Edwin go?" Marti asked as Lizzie walked down the stairs. Lizzie raised her eyebrow and walked over to Marti.

"What do you mean?" Lizzie asked.

"Edwin, he's gone. He walked out of the house and said he was going to go somewhere." Lizzie looked up and frowned, she had not been expecting him to leave.

_"Damn, I was planning to leave Edwin with Marti while I went to that warehouse and tried to get Derek out of there."_ Lizzie crossed her arms and sighed. _"I still want to do that, but I don't want to leave Marti alone. That's too dangerous for a kid her age."_

"Do you not know where he went?" Marti asked.

"To be honest with you, I don't have any idea where he went to." Marti looked down at the floor and a tear fell from her eye.

"That's not right; he should tell us where he's going. I'm too afraid to be left out of the loop! Casey and Derek are missing and now Edwin's gone without explaining anything. Why!" Lizzie frowned and hugged Marti tightly as she patted her on the back.

"I don't know what to tell you, except that everything will be just fine. Do not worry about anything at all, Marti." Marti nodded and followed Lizzie into the kitchen. "Would you like to play?" Lizzie pulled a marker out of her pocket and smiled. "It's one of those markers where it's hidden on paper until you pull out a crayon or something that will reveal the words you wrote."

"I'm not really interested in playing that right now, Lizzie."

"Oh, well that's okay." Lizzie set the marker next to a sheet of paper and looked out the window. She had to admit that she was nervous as well; Edwin failed to tell her that he was leaving. She heard a knock on the door and raised her eyebrow; she walked over to the front door and looked through the peephole. She did not entirely recognize the person at the door, he looked vaguely familiar though. She shrugged and walked back to the kitchen. "Marti, how would you like to go somewhere with me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I was thinking of finding Casey or at least Derek. I realize that I can't do that and leave you here, so it may be best to let you come with me." Marti smiled widely and nodded.

"I would love to find them."

"Good." Lizzie and Marti jumped when they heard the door slam open. "What the hell was that!" Lizzie looked into the living room to see the man that knocked on the door, he had a key in his hand and was grinning.

"Hello Lizzie, you don't remember me that well, do you?" The man asked. "I got this key from my beloved girlfriend, she was lonely so I thought she needed a companion." Lizzie's eyes widened.

"Oh my god…you can't be…" Lizzie's face turned serious and she stepped in front of Marti. "David."

"In the flesh," David said with a chuckle as he held his arms out. "I was just thinking that you would be a perfect companion for Casey right about now. So I would like for you and your stepsister there to come with me and be as cooperative as you can be about it." Lizzie looked to Marti who was holding tightly onto Lizzie's arm.

"Sorry, but I don't intend to go anywhere with you."

"You know, that's a real shame," David said as he crossed his arms. "Casey was really counting on you to come. You would have kept her alive too."

"What?"

"You were her hope to stay alive, she's been real down lately and she's been saying that she wants to die."

"Like hell she does."

"Look, she does what I ask, everyone does what I ask. I'm asking for you to come with me, I know where Derek is and I know where Edwin is as well." David smirked as Lizzie's eyes grew wide.

"You better not have done anything to Edwin!"

"What did this man do to Edwin?" Marti asked quickly.

"Nothing Lizzie, nothing happened to Edwin."

"I wouldn't be so sure," David said calmly. "I have Edwin in quite a predicament. His life is in your hands right now,."

"What are you talking about?"

"If you refuse to come, you refuse Edwin's right to live. If you choose to come, Edwin's life is spared. Right now he is with Derek and both men are being tortured to death, Edwin is the one that will die at the mere press of a button."

"Damn you…"

"What is your choice?" David pulled out what appeared to be a remote, Lizzie growled and clenched her fists.

"What choice do I have anyway?"

"That's a good girl, I'll give you the chance to write a final statement that will tell your parents that you have gone shopping. I assume they will return soon and wonder where you're at."

"Yeah…" Lizzie growled and walked over to the counter, she picked up the marker and began to write on the sheet of paper. Once finished, she set the marker down and walked next to Marti. "Come on, we need to go now, there isn't a whole lot of choices that we have."

"Don't worry about a thing," David said with a smile. "You'll get the opportunity to see Casey once more. Sadly I don't know if you'll see Edwin since he's…stuck with Derek and Max at the moment."

"Shut up damn you, can't you see you're scaring Marti?" David frowned and looked at Marti, she was crying and holding on to a stuffed bear.

"Do you know who I am? I don't really give a damn if the little girl is scared or not." Lizzie growled once more, something inside of her told her that Edwin was not in danger, but she couldn't give up the opportunity to find Casey, she had to make it look like an abduction.

"You creep, I don't care who you are, don't talk about my stepsister like that!" Lizzie acted like she was in a furious rage and toppled the chairs over, David smirked and hit Lizzie in the stomach.

"Don't get to be a smartass. You don't think I can see what you're doing, you're trying to make it appear as though you're being kidnapped, I'm not stupid."

"Hey, don't hurt Lizzie!" Marti exclaimed.

"You can shut up you sniveling wimp." David grabbed at her but wound up grabbing Marti's stuffed animal. She held tightly to her doll and he pulled quickly, she screamed as it tore in half and spilt all over the ground. "Now get moving." David picked Lizzie up and covered her mouth so she couldn't protest and Marti walked out the door.

00000000000000

Edwin stepped into the house, he had left only because a friend of his needed urgent help with something. Normally he wouldn't have left in haste, but he felt strongly that Lizzie and Marti would be okay. "Why was that door unlocked?" Edwin asked quietly.

_"In further news…"_ The television set spoke out.

"Nobody is watching television…why not?" Edwin looked around and saw cotton on the floor in the kitchen. "What the hell?" Edwin walked into the kitchen and spotted Marti's stuffed animal ripped up and chairs on the floor. He spotted a sheet of paper on the counter and a marker next to it, he looked at the paper and raised his eyebrow. "There's nothing written." He noticed the marker was one of those special markers so he opened a nearby drawer and pulled out a crayon. He rubbed over the paper and his eyes grew wide as he read the words.

_"To whoever finds this letter, Marti and I are being taken captive by a guy named David. He is my sister's ex boyfriend and is a complete psycho, he's kidnapped Casey as well and she's pregnant with her boyfriend's child who happens to be our new stepbrother. Please help us, oh and we're not sure where our other stepbrother, Edwin is at the moment. I think he's safe but David says he has captured Edwin._

_Sincerely,_

_Lizzie McDonald."_

"David has Lizzie and Marti, _crap!" _Edwin folded the paper and put it in his pocket with a groan, he was hoping to find the place Derek had been held captive and possibly save Casey. He thought Lizzie and Marti would be safe, but it appears that was not the case this time around. "That bastard has all of my sisters and my brother now…"

Edwin walked into the living room and glanced over at the television set, he picked up the remote and turned off the television. _"I wonder how he got in here in the first place. I will have to think of something to do."_ Edwin looked back at the torn toy that lay in the kitchen, he frowned and clenched his fists tightly. "

He ripped up Marti's toy as well. This bastard is obsessed with Casey, he must hate Derek and now he has kidnapped Lizzie and Marti. What did they ever do to him? I doubt they ever did a single thing to him." Edwin stepped outside the house and locked the door. He crossed his arms and looked around at his surroundings. "That bastard, David will pay for this. I will make sure of this, _nobody_ messes with the Venturi family and gets away with it!"

* * *

There is the chapter, hope you enjoyed it, stick around for the next


	19. Captive

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 18 (Captive)

Casey sat with her arms tied against the wall, she pulled on her arms but her struggling was in vain. _"Damn it, I need to get out of here,"_ Casey thought. She cursed David with every fiber in her being, the instant she closed her eyes and tried to get to some sleep, he came in and abducted her. _"Hopefully if I don't get out of here, someone will come find me."_ Casey struggled on her bonds once more and stopped when she heard a door slam shut.

"Let us go! Stop it now!" Marti exclaimed.

"Marti, what's she doing here?" Casey's eyes widened when she heard a second shout from Lizzie. "No…he couldn't have…" The door to her room opened and David walked in while dragging Marti and Lizzie into the room by their wrists. "David! Let them go!"

"Oh shut up," David said scornfully. "I brought them here to keep you company."

"Why are their wires around Casey's wrists?" Lizzie asked as she eyed the wire that tied Casey to a wall.

"Isn't it obvious? I tie the wires to the little hooks that are bolted into the wall and then I place the captive in there." Lizzie and Marti looked onto the wall and saw some hooks that were their height. "You see, I already planned on capturing you two, but if you don't keep your mouth shut and quit complaining…"

"What, you'll do what?"

"You're easily disposable, remember that."

"You're a bastard! Edwin and Derek will find you and they'll kill you!" David laughed as he bound Lizzie and Marti.

"Didn't I tell you? I know I told you, I know you heard me too. I've captured Edwin Venturi and Derek is captive too. Max has them both." Casey's eyes widened and she opened her mouth but Lizzie was not finished yet.

"Shut the hell up! I know you didn't really get Edwin, he's still out there and he's going to find Derek. They're going to come for you, you've pissed them off enough, most likely." David growled and slapped Lizzie hard across the face. Lizzie grunted and Marti started to sob.

"Shut up." David held his wrist and frowned. "Now I don't like hitting girls but if you don't shut up, then I have no other choice."

"I hate you David…"

"Yeah, whatever, oh and if your pathetic brother decides to come for you, I wish them the best of luck. I'll take on one Venturi, I'll take on two Venturi's, hell I'll take on the entire Venturi family! Let them come to me, it's not a problem…I already have what I want anyway, this time, Derek can't take it from me." David glanced over at Casey for a brief moment and turned to walk out of the room. Casey sighed and looked over at Lizzie.

"Why did you try to argue with him?" Casey asked. "Why are you here?"

"He abducted us obviously," Lizzie said quietly.

"No, I know that, I mean why did he take you two? Is Derek okay, and Edwin too?" Lizzie looked to the ground with a hard look on her face

"Edwin is fine, I'm sure of that…" Casey gulped silently, she did not like the sound in Lizzie's voice.

"W-What about Derek, is he okay?"

"David wasn't lying about that, Max really did capture Derek."

"Max is alive then…"

"Casey, I don't think you should hide your secret anymore."

"My secret…oh, you mean the truth about my boyfriend. So I take it you know that Derek is and has always been my boyfriend."

"Yes and Casey, _that_ makes more sense. I know you love him like you say you do, you have to. You always said you were in love and I believe it…especially if you were willing to hide it and risk your own relationshiop for mom's relationship."

"You think hiding it would have risked our relationship?"

"Once mom and George get married, it'll be harder to be seen as a couple. It'll be awkward for both you and Derek and eventually you both may have more arguments…_real_ arguments and not those fake ones that you and Derek had in order to hide the truth. So yes, it would risk your relationship."

"We actually thought of that…I never said anything about that though…"

"Mom and George got delayed by the way."

"What!"

"They won't be back for another two days. I would say what that means if Edwin actually gets captured, but I won't say it."

"You don't need to worry about saying it in front of me," Marti said with a sniffle. "I understand the thing. If Edwin is taken then…then…we could very well die!" Tears streaked Marti's cheeks as Casey and Lizzie looked sadly at her.

"Don't talk like that Marti, it's Edwin, he wouldn't let himself get kidnapped easily! I'm willing to bet even Derek didn't get taken down easily."

"No, Derek would never get taken easily," Casey said quietly. "Marti, don't cry, you're a strong girl and you'll make it through this."

"No I won't, I'm scared!" Marti exclaimed. Casey frowned, she wished she could give Marti a hug and comfort her but she couldn't.

"Marti, you're strong, the Venturi family is a strong family. You're a Venturi, just like Derek and Edwin. Derek's always been strong, ever since I first met him he has always been tough. You are most like him, I can tell these things. Therefore, you're a strong person, you'll be just fine. You just have to stay positive and calm, don't let little men with big mouths like David scare you. That's all they are, talk and no action, that is unlike the Venturi's I have seen. Try not to be scared and stay strong, if not for yourself, do it for us."

"Yeah," Lizzie said with a smile. "We McDonalds need a strong Venturi to back us up or we wouldn't survive a place like this." Casey raised her eyes and stared at Lizzie, Lizzie caught the glare and sighed. _"It's only to make Marti feel better…It's not like I'm insulting the family name, or at least I'm not trying to."_

"I'll do it," Marti said with an almost proud voice. "I'll stay strong, just like my brothers do! I have one request though."

"What is that?"

"Could you not cuss, Lizzie?"

"Huh…oh, I'm sorry, sometimes I get a little tempermental."

"Very…"

"Gee, thanks for the support, Marti." Lizzie looked over at Casey's wrists and saw a gash on them. "Casey, why are you cut?"

"I've been trying to free myself, but it hasn't worked," Casey said with a heavy sigh. "I'm stuck here and there isn't anything I can do."

"Help will come, Casey. I'm sure of it."

"Derek and Edwin will rescue us!" Marti said quickly. "I can feel it, they are part of the Venturi family!" Casey and Lizzie smiled at Marti.

"You're right, Marti," Casey stated. The door flew open and David stepped into the room.

"Okay Casey, you're coming with me," David said with a sickening grin.

"What? No!" David undid the bonds on Casey and tied he wrists together with rope.

"No complaining now, Casey."

"What are you doing to her you bastard!" Lizzie exclaimed. David chuckled and dragged Casey out of the room.

"I'll bring her back, don't worry." Lizzie clenched her teeth as David dragged Casey out of the room, Casey could be heard shouting down the hall.

"Lizzie, what is he going to do to Casey?" Marti asked. Lizzie frowned and looked over at Marti.

"I can't tell you," Lizzie said quietly. She closed her eyes and winced as she heard Casey screaming and sobbing from a nearby room.

"Lizzie! What is he doing to her, he's hurting her!"

_"Damn it…Derek, Edwin, hurry please."_

**-NEW SCENE-**

Edwin swiftly picked up a phone and dialed a number. A man on the other line picked up. "Hello?" The man asked.

"Hello, is this Dennis McDonald?" Edwin asked.

"Yes."

"Good…get your ass over here this instant."

"What?"

"Oh I'm sorry, you may know me as Edwin Venturi."

"Oh, you're the son of the man that Nora is marrying. How are they?"

"Dad and Nora are delayed for two days and I need someone over here immediately, do you think you can get over here?"

"Why?"

"I'll explain the circumstances when you get here. Oh, and I apologize for coming off a little too harshly there, I'm a little frustrated, you'll see why when you get down here. Leave _immediately_."

"Well there's a flight for your town in the next thirty minutes, I can get to the airport in ten."

"Good, hurry!" Edwin hung up the phone and then picked it up again to dial another number.

"Hello?"

"Is this General Tony Venturi?"

"Yes."

"Hello grandpa."

"Edwin, I thought that was your voice but you referred to me oddly."

"How else would I address my grandfather? You happen to be a four star general in the military."

"I'm a _retired_ General and I never made it to a four star level. You know that."

"It must have slipped my mind, I want you to come over, and make it fast."

"Uh…Edwin, why are you speaking so firmly?"

"If I'm coming off as forceful, I apologize, but you'll find out what's going on when you arrive here."

"Okay, I'll try to get over there as fast as I can, Edwin." Edwin thanked his grandfather and hung up, he rubbed his forehead and sighed as he sat on the couch.

"Damn, I must be pretty upset if I have to get grandpa over here. Especially the stern one, he used to always have me call him General Venturi, and I was his _grandkid_." Edwin sighed and picked up the phone. _"I have a few more people I need to call."_ Edwin called four other people, only two of them were able to take Edwin's call. _"Well, Sam and Tiphanie might help out considerably, though I think I can count on Grandpa without any problems. I hope he doesn't start bossing everyone around, it's going to be their job to listen to me and I'll listen to them. We have to work together."_

* * *

Well, I hate David even more now, how about you? Edwin's got something cooking up as well, I wonder what it is. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, the next will be up soon.


	20. Derek versus Max Round three

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 19 (Derek versus Max Round Three)

"Damn it, once I get out of here, you're dead," Derek said into the air. He growled as he slowly pushed his bloody body up, his cell phone had died a while back. He was now trapped in the cold cell. _"I need to find a way out of this damn cell."_ Derek took a step and nearly fell to the ground, "Ah crap! I'm just a little weakened but I won't let that get to me." Derek looked around the cell for anything that might assist him. _"Come on, I need to get out of here and get to Casey. The mother of my children, I need to get out of this cell and save her. Damn, what are we going to do about college? I'll definitely go to college; hopefully she will go to college as well. Maybe dad and Nora…I'll think about this later."_ Derek walked over to one part of the wall and noticed a small crack in it. "Great, so what can I do with this? How the hell did I get caught in here?"

_-FLASHBACK-_

"Casey!" Derek exclaimed as he ran out into the night. He cussed loudly and got into his car, he quickly began to drive down the street until saw a car speed past him. He looked over and saw Casey lying in the back seat of that car. "There she is!" Derek pressed his foot on the gas pedal and drove after the car, the chase was on. He sped up next to the car and noticed David driving the vehicle.

"Derek!" David exclaimed as he looked over and growled. "I won't let you take Casey!"

"She's not your girlfriend!" Derek exclaimed. "You better not do anything to her!" David laughed and swerved the car, he smashed it into Derek's car. "Crap!" Derek moved his hands with the steering wheel to maintain the handling.

"You'll never get your hands on my girl!" Derek looked over and saw David hold out a gun.

"Damn it!" Derek ducked as David fired a gunshot at him. Another shot was fired and Derek felt a burning pain in his arm. Derek felt his car slow down as David drove ahead of him. Derek growled and followed after David. _"I won't let you get away with Casey!"_ Derek followed in hot pursuit until they came to a dead end area. Derek looked over and thought he saw a gun from behind a tree. It fired and his tires were shot. Derek swerved and the car ran over a bump, it flipped over and rolled down the hill several times before landing on its wheels. Derek saw the car heading toward a lake and cussed as he quickly opened the door and jumped out of the car. He looked over as the car splashed into the lake; he pushed himself up and saw a gun barrel pointed toward his face.

"Don't even think about moving," Max said with a smirk. "I'm going to kill you right here if I feel like it. Although, David wants you alive so you can be tortured. So come with me quietly and don't try to fight me.

"So you think you're going to try and shoot me?"

"Only if I have to, I'm sure you don't want me to shoot you." Derek smirked and a knife fell from his shirt sleeve. He leapt out of the way and avoided a gunshot. He quickly thrust the knife toward Max and hit him in the arm. "Shit!" Max dropped the gun and grabbed the knife, Derek quickly leapt toward the gun and grabbed it as he leapt back from Max. He aimed the gun toward Max.

"Okay Max, let's talk this over. Why the hell are you doing this? You know it's wrong."

"That bitch doesn't deserve someone like you."

"Don't ever call her that!" Derek fired a gunshot past Max's head. "The next shot won't miss."

"Okay Derek, you want to fight? Then let's fight." Max held the knife in front of his face. "We could however fight fairly. Toss down the weapons and use our fists." Max tossed the knife on the ground and Derek smirked.

"That's your loss." Derek swiftly tossed the gun he was using back into the lake. "No more gun for you to use."

"No, that's your loss now, Derek."

"What?" Max put his hand in his jacket and pulled out another knife, he swooped down and grabbed the other knife and charged toward Derek. "Crap!" Derek shielded his face as the knives scratched against his arms. Derek kicked Max in the abdomen and shifted around and brought his fist into Max's back. Max growled and swirled around, he brought his arm down and slashed Derek's shoulder with the knife.

"How does it feel now Derek? Who has the upper hand this time/"

"Coward!"

"I think that's where you're wrong. I'm no coward; I'm just taking the easiest route to bringing your crappy ass to the ground!" Max charged toward Derek and thrust a knife toward him. Derek dodged the attack and brought his knee up into Max's chest.

"Did you think it was going to be easy?"

"Look here buddy, I don't give a damn if you die or not. David wants you alive so he can torture you to death, however he won't be taking you to his hideout."

"I'm not dying until I get Casey. I don't intend to die after that either."

"You Venturi bastards annoy the crap out of me, I hope you know that." Max charged toward Derek and slashed the knives toward Derek. Derek avoided the cut and grabbed Max's arm, he tossed Max to the ground.

"You have a lot to learn if you want to fight me. In fact, you may want to learn a little about the Venturi family. We don't give up, it just doesn't happen."

"So all you little Venturi's decide to fight to the death for no reason?"

"Wrong, there's never an instance that we don't have a reason to fight bastards like you." Derek charged toward Max and jabbed a fist into his abdomen.

"Crap!" Max held his abdomen and took a breath before thrusting his arm out and scratching Derek's arm with his knife. "You should have just come peacefully; I wouldn't have to cut you up so much."

"Heh, I'm going to let you cut me up, yeah right." Max sneered and dashed toward Derek, he swiped his knives toward him only to have Derek leap backwards with every swipe. Derek swiftly kicked a knife out of Max's hands.

"Damn it!" Derek threw a fist toward Max's face but stopped and coughed up blood, Max had thrust the remaining knife into his abdomen.

"D-Damn it…"

"I give you my word on this Venturi, since David requests it…" Max pulled out the knife and Derek held his abdomen. His body began to shake as Max delivered a hard punch into his face. "I will heal and treat all your wounds so that you don't die on my hands and I won't get blamed for killing you. Then David and I will torture you all we want." Derek fell to his knees and then to the ground as he lost all consciousness. _"I don't really know why the hell I'm doing all of this for David anyway."_ Max grabbed Derek's body and carried him over his shoulder as he walked to a car and drove away.

-_END FLASHBACK-_

"He must have taken me to a hospital or something after that," Derek said quietly. "I must have been drugged so much that I didn't wake up until I got here." Derek looked over to see Max walk into the room.

"Derek, how are you?" Max asked.

"Shut the hell up, I don't desire to talk to you."

"Oh and why is that? Is it because I beat you?"

"You didn't beat me, you used weapons while I didn't and you just happened to get me when I didn't expect it."

"Yeah, but hey, at least we don't need to worry about you." Max shrugged and chuckled. "The Venturi family is now captive to us."

"Right…"

"No seriously, David has captured both Lizzie and Marti."

"What?" Derek shifted his gaze over toward Max. "That better not be the case."

"Oh but it is true, for you see, the only one left in that house is Edwin and well…Do you want to see a video of your girlfriend? Not even _I_ have seen this, but David guarantees this will torture the hell out of you and make your eyes bleed."

"Damn you." Max chuckled and put a tape into a VCR and pressed the television remote. Derek looked at the television as the video started.

_"Help Me!"_ Was what Casey screamed. Derek's eyes widened and he slowly grew angry as he saw her alone in a room with David, he had her hands tied up behind her. _"No Please stop! Derek, help me!"_ Derek clenched his fists and his teeth as he heard Casey scream out in terror and agony. Even Max looked disgusted at the video, but the coward was too afraid of his own life to protest.

"I'm going to turn it off now," Max said as he clicked the power button. "Yeah, it appears all that's left is Edwin Venturi."

"Yeah, I guess he is all that's left," Derek said with a low growl.

"Yes, but David and I won't worry about him, Edwin Venturi is _not_ a threat to us."

* * *

There's the chapter. Hmm, Edwin is not a threat to them? I see...well hope you enjoyed the chapter! Stick around for the next


	21. Venturi Blood, Godfather Style Begins

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

A/N: No this isn't a parody off of the Godfather, I just felt like using that title because I like how Venturi sounds like an Italian Mafia name. Okay, just read and enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Chapter 20 (Venturi Blood, Godfather Style Begins)

George and Nora lay in the bed in their hotel room. George sat up and stared out the window. _"What's going on out there?"_ Nora woke up and placed her hand on George's shoulder.

"What's the matter?" Nora asked.

"I just feel like something is seriously wrong. That and I can't get to sleep."

"Well then, what do you want to do? I guess we could watch some television or something. Do you think there's anything on that you'd like to watch?"

"There may be."

"Anything other than Italian mafia movies?" Nora chuckled and George shrugged his shoulders.

"I like those movies."

"Yeah, you're the only one that likes them, I'm sure of that." George crossed his arms and chuckled. "What? You're not the only one?"

"We're the Venturi family. Our name is Italian as well; all of us love Italian Mafia movies. Our Italian blood runs proudly through our veins and our heritage is a noble one."

"Yeah, and let me guess, your entire family is a mafia?"

"Well if you want to look at it that way." George smirked and Nora rolled her eyes with a chuckle. "We're pretty close, but we're no mafia. However we can definitely fight, there is some mafia blood in us. My grandparents were in the mafia. The Venturi family also has the smarts, well enough to be considered for a movie such as The Godfather. That is our favorite movie as well. The Venturi's are calm and collected. We are straight thinkers and we will get the job done no matter what you say or do. We don't give up, it's not in our blood, we never give up on a project. So basically if a Venturi starts something, it's going to be a Venturi that finishes it, no matter what."

"So your family is violent?"

"No, not normally. However if someone messes with someone we love, we'll get defensive." George wrapped his arm around Nora's waist and grinned. "I can feel it; something is stirring in the Venturi blood right now. I'm not sure what, but something has the Venturi family riled and the blood boils through the entire family."

**-NEW SCENE-**

Marti opened her eyes and swiftly glanced over at Lizzie and Casey. They were sleeping in their bounds. Marti slowly moved her eyes around the room and spotted a knife at the far end of the room. _"I could use that."_ Marti glanced over at Casey and sniffed. _"I want to get her out of here. I want her to get to Derek safely."_ Marti moved her arms and looked at the wires. The wires were loose and if she could loosen them well enough, her small arm and hand could slip right through the wires. _"Okay, here goes…"_ Marti lifted up with her wrists and felt the wire move, all she had to do was slip one hand through the wire and get the other one out. After about fifteen seconds she managed to get one arm free. She pulled the wire out and saw that the wire could be pulled out of the wall to fit Derek's arm. _"Smart move there, David. His arm is about twice the size of mine! Unfortunately not big enough for Lizzie or Casey to slip their arms through._

Marti pulled the other wire and slipped her arm out, she held her wrist as she walked over to the knife. _"I hate knives. I hate weapons, but when the time comes that I have to use them…in the end, I am a Venturi."_ She picked up the knife and slowly walked over to Casey. _"I'm going to get you out of here."_ Marti lifted the knife up and cut the wire around Casey's wrist, Casey's eyes shot open as her hand fell to her side. Marti quickly sliced off the other wire and hugged Casey.

"Marti, what…how…what just happened?"

"I'm freeing you."

"What?"

"I'm a Venturi, it's in my blood. I have to protect you, you're the most important right now. Derek's worried about you, I believe it. You need to get out of here and find Derek, either him or Edwin and you will be safe."

"What about Lizzie?"

"Normally we would want to send her to safety too, but I'm a little girl, I need someone to keep me from getting too scared. I'm going to stay here with Lizzie for now."

"I might be found!"

"If you are, then I will have to take the time to free both you and Lizzie and we'll all get out, but right now it should be just you. Don't ask my reasoning, I sort of feel that he's on high alert right now. Three might be more noticeable than one. How sneaky are you?"

"I can be sneaky."

"Then you need to sneak away as good as you can." Marti looked around the room and tapped her chin. "There's a vent right up there. Go in it."

"In there!"

"Yes, please hurry; I don't want anything more to happen to you." Casey nodded as she fiddled with the vent on the wall, eventually she managed to crawl in it.

"It's a perfect size!"

"Good." Marti closed the vent and rushed over to the table, she found the cap that the knife went on and covered the blade. She placed it in her back pocket and made her way to the wires; she slipped her wrists into the wires and closed her eyes in time for David to walk in the room.

"What the hell!" David exclaimed. This action caused both Lizzie and Marti to wake up.

"Ouch, stop yelling!" Marti exclaimed. Lizzie looked over at where Casey used to be and blinked.

"What did you do to Casey!" Lizzie exclaimed. "You bastard, you better not have done anything more to her!"

"I didn't do anything and shut up!"

"How else could she get out then?"

"Maybe you released her!" Lizzie raised her eyebrow and thought of the impossibility of that suggestion.

"How…the hell…is that possible!"

"I don't know!" Marti looked over at Lizzie and frowned.

_"She's really making him mad,"_ Marti thought. _"I hope she doesn't make him mad enough to hurt her. Maybe I should free her…"_

"If I find out what happened to Casey and find out that you had something to do with it, you're dead!"

"I'd rather be dead than to deal with your ugly face!" Lizzie exclaimed.

"It's fine; do you even realize how deep underground you are right now? I have so many guards and gang members in this place that the only way you could ever hope to escape safely would be to go through the ventilation system. Nobody would try that, not Casey, she's too cleanly."

_"Oh you don't even know,"_ Marti thought as she smirked inwardly. _"So he has gang members? What did my dad tell us stories about before? Something about having mafia blood in us. Something about being the real life Godfather family. If that's the case, there's no way David's gang stands a chance."_

"I have practically an army surrounding this area; nobody's escaping without being seen." David smirked and crossed his arms. "I should let you know, I have some extreme mafia blood in me, my mother's maiden name is one you'd never believe. Vitale, Georgia Vitale was her name. She married Mario Vitale and his father was Giovanni Vitale, son of Bernardo Vitale." Marti's eyes grew wide, she could remember from her dad's stories of her great grandparents. The Italian Mafia was vibrant back in the thirties and forties; Bernardo Vitale was her grand grandfather's worst enemy. Not even then, but the Vitale's never got along with the Venturi's.

"V-Vitale?" Marti asked with a slight stutter. David looked at Marti and smirked.

"Yes, I see you recognize it. No doubt a Venturi would recognize the name Vitale." Lizzie raised her eyebrow and looked over at Marti. "I'm just surprised that _you_ know about the Vitale family."

"I don't know much, I've heard stories from my father."

"I see. Allow me to tell you a little something about the Vitale family versus the Venturi family. Several years ago, well better yet, over a century ago...the Italian Mafia wars broke out between families in the mid 1890's. Two people, our generation's great, great grandparents. Tito Venturi and Tony Vitale, they used to be good friends and they were allying families. They were the two strongest Italian families around. That was pretty good since they were in their twenties, born in 1870, each of them. True the generation lines went back further than that but this is where the rivalry all started. I mentioned they were allies, I mentioned they did everything together. They dined together, they were best friends. Soon however, their friendship was ended and they became bitter rivals.

"Why?" Lizzie asked, she was now interested in this story.

"A very beautiful woman came in between these two men and their partnership. A woman by the name of Susie McDonald came between the two men."

"What!" Lizzie stared in disbelief.

"It's true, both Tito and Tony fell in love with her. Both claiming to have love stronger than the other. Their bitter rivalry separated the two and their families clashed on the battlefield and tried to kill each other. Neither Tito nor Tony managed to kill each other and Susie disappeared, but not before she had a baby with someone. That man died before the wedding and her name remained McDonald. Tito and Tony had kids of their own, our great grandparents. They too were bitter rivals, they hated each other and it was a hate that was almost worse than their fathers before them. Once again another beautiful woman came onto the scene."

"Don't tell me…"

"It was the daughter of Susie McDonald."

"Why do I not like where this is going?"

"I'll tell you that it ended up quite similar to Tito and Tony."

"That kid had a husband who died before marriage?"

"No. That girl was married to an abusive bastard. Eventually one of the Vitale's and the Venturi's went and iced the guy without the girl's knowledge. She already had a child though, but she kept her maiden name."

"Great…and while you're at it tell me how my grandmother came between two people," Lizzie said flatly. "Oh wait, my grandfather was the one named McDonald."

"Which is why the Vitale's and the Venturi's stopped with the fighting. They actually never talked after that."

"Really, they stopped fighting when my grandfather was born?"

"Yes. The grandparents and the parents never met each other. Meaning George Venturi has never met Georgia Vitale."

"They have practically the _same name!"_

"Uh…same and similar names tend to run through these families. It is assumed that the Venturi's and the Vitale's forgot about each other because of the fact that Vixen McDonald, I guess your great grandmother had a son. Then that person had a son that got married to a woman named Nora."

"Damn you know a lot about our family that it's creepy…" Lizzie rolled her eyes and groaned. "Wait…Oh crap!"

"You just realized that your sister is named McDonald and my name is similar to Derek, didn't you?"

"Shut the hell up Vitale!" Marti blinked at Lizzie, the guy's name wasn't exactly Vitale, it was his mother's maiden name.

"You should also realize that it's not usually long until a Venturi will be murdered by a Vitale. It's been happening throughout the generations. Usually _after_ the McDonald girl has a baby. Then the Venturi's have their child and the Vitale's have a kid with someone else a few months later."

"Well you'd better stop messing with Casey because she _is_ pregnant!" Lizzie exclaimed. Marti sighed and shook her head. "Derek is the father and he's going to be mad as hell!"

"Oh dang, I hope she's not three months. Venturi may just die then. Of course, little Venturi's will be running around. Or should I say little McDonalds."

"You sick bastard, you're going to be the one to bite the dust!"

"Right, I don't think so. Be lucky McDonald, you don't have to worry about anything on _your_ part. I am an only child."

"Oh thank god, dare _I_ happen to be in between two warring people named Edwin and Ed…_ward_!"

"I love the sarcasm; it goes great in the McDonald line. This time I will be the victor, someone will wind up with the McDonald girl and it will _not_ be Venturi."

"Sorry, you're kind of late on that," Lizzie said with a smirk.

"Oh am I? Your mother hasn't married your father yet." David walked out of the room and Lizzie looked over to Marti.

"What do you make of all that?" Lizzie asked with narrow eyes.

"I don't know. I slept through most of it," Marti said with an innocent grin.

"Hah, Italian bloodlines…bloodlust…mobs…I don't believe any of that stuff."

"Well most of what he says makes sense and is actually backed up by family trees. I've freed Casey; I can slip my wrists through this wire." Marti let out a sigh and shook her head. "It looks like the Venturi versus Vitale war is back on. However there is only one Vitale this time. There are three Venturi's."

"Yeah, and two of them are _trapped._"

* * *

Ooh it looks like Derek and David have a hatred that burns deeper than their veins. Let's also take a look, a McDonald is here, will we be seeing Mother Vitale and Grandfather Vitale soon? A hatred that runs thick through the blood and generations of Derek and David and a connection that has been there for so long. Will it finally come to an end? Let's see! Stick around for the next chapter.

A/N: In case you didnt' understand the part about a Vitale murdering a Venturi. Once a McDonald is in the picture, if she is pregnant and Venturi has a kid or is in the process of having a kid. Vitale murders that Venturi. The Grandfather and the Father were not murdered because a McDonald wasn't in the picture then, now there is both Nora McDonald and Casey McDonald. You could consider Lizzie as well.


	22. Venturi Blood: The Feud Awakens

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 21 (Venturi Blood, the Feud Awakens)

"You know, I think you're right George," Nora said as she tapped her chin. "I can feel something going on too, like something is happening with the kids." Nora crossed her arms and smirked. "However _I_ call it motherly intuition, not Mafia blood flowing through my veins."

"Ah but McDonalds are not the Mafia," George said as he shook his head. "They never have been."

"Oh and you would know?"

"Have they been?" Nora thought for a second and shook her head. "No, unfortunately they haven't."

"Hey, the Venturi's were a mafia family. However we weren't bad at all."

"I thought all Italian mobs were."

"Not the Venturi family. We didn't do anything that wasn't sanctioned by the Don, and we stopped being a mafia family when my father came around. If the Venturi family committed any crimes whatsoever, they were pardoned with my grandfather and my father put the mafia blood to sleep…Though it feels almost as if it's awakening."

"Ooh, nice, so you're a big tough guy are you?"

"I'll never admit to _not_ being one."

"You're too weak; I bet your own _son_ is better than you."

"Well if it had to be so, Derek or Edwin would be the Don of the family." Nora laughed as she and George walked through the park they were at.

"Right and I bet you had a warring family."

"All Italian Mafias had those. Our greatest rivals were the Vitale family, once again our rivalry ended with my grandfather. The woman that started the rivalry basically had a son with someone else. Susie someone…Then there was Vixen and that person had a son. That was the last the Vitale's or the Venturi's ever saw of each other and we probably will never spot each other again." A woman's scream rang out through the air and Nora looked over to see a woman in the nearby lake.

"George, she's drowning!"

"I'll go help!" George ran over to the lake and jumped in, Nora ran to the shore and watched as George grabbed the woman and swam back to shore. Nora looked over and saw a purse that probably belonged to the woman, it was on the dock over the waters. She ran over to the purse and picked it up; the woman probably fell off of the docks. Nora ran over to George and the woman who was now standing and panting heavily.

"Here, I think this belongs to you," Nora said as she handed the woman the purse.

"Thank you," She said with a smile. "I'm sorry to have troubled you, my name is Georgia Brooks. Thank you very much." (A/N: Oh crap, is it _that_ Georgia Brooks?!) Georgia brushed her hair through her hair and put her purse around her shoulder.

"It was no trouble," George said with a smile. "I'm George Venturi and this is my soon to be wife, Nora McDonald." Georgia stared at George and her face grew dark as her blood began to boil, George raised his eyebrow at her.

"Venturi…McDonald…McDonald is the source of our hatred!"

"Uh…"

"My maiden name is Vitale."

"Oh crap…"

"What do you mean the McDonalds are the source of your hatred?" Nora asked.

"Remember this McDonald. All McDonalds and Venturi's are closely knit together with romantic bonds." Nora raised her eyebrow and looked over at George. "It was Susie McDonald that came to Tony Venturi in 1890's and Tito Vitale fell in love with her as well. That spawned the better rivalry and hatred." Nora chuckled nervously as Georgia put her hand in her purse.

"My Ex is the pure blood McDonald."

"It does not matter, when Venturi meets McDonald and Vitale meets Venturi…The mafia blood runs thick and the hatred between the two families is awakened." George chuckled and shook his head.

"I don't hate you," George stated. "We could possibly be friends."

"Never could we be friends Venturi! No way in hell is that possible. When a McDonald has a child Venturi's always get murdered and their kid is next in line and the generations continue. Our hatred was only stopped when Vixen McDonald had a son and we never met. There must be another McDonald somewhere; perhaps Vixen McDonald's grandson has found a Venturi. Somehow the hatred I feel for the Venturi family has awakened with extreme pressure."

"A McDonald and Venturi have to meet?" Nora asked as she raised her eyebrow.

"It usually goes as Vitale and McDonald know each other first then McDonald meets Venturi and then Venturi meets Vitale. That's how it happened then, and that must be how it happened now, die Venturi!" Georgia pulled a gun from her purse and George's eyes grew large.

"Do you always carry a gun in your purse!" George exclaimed. Georgia pulled the trigger and a bullet dug deep into George's side. "Ah damn!"

"George!" Nora exclaimed as she rushed over to her fallen fiancé.

"I'll be okay Nora, just get out of here."

_"In the end, McDonald always truly loves Venturi. However that happiness can't be as long as a Vitale shall live."_

**-NEW SCENE-**

"Mr. President, Sir!" A woman exclaimed as she ran into the Oval Office of the white house.

"What?"

"The feud has been awakened!"

"Could you explain?"

"In one of the states, a man named George Venturi was shot down by Georgia Brooks."

"Okay…that is _what_ feud."

"Venturi-Vitale-McDonald feud! Georgia Brooks's maiden name is Vitale."

"How did you hear of this?"

"A doctor sent a report in saying that Mr. Venturi and his fiancée Mrs. McDonald were shot at by a Vitale and he said this was of course a _bad_ thing."

"Of course it is, it is a serious matter. The Feud between Venturi and Vitale was a massive and dangerous one, it spawned almost all the way across the continent. It ended generations ago, though. I suppose it's started up again, several Presidents before me have tried to step in and end the violent feud they had with each other but we never succeeded. Fortunately they only aimed at each other and never at innocents. At least that was what the Venturi's did…Here's what we are going to do, we are going to sit."

"What?"

"We will ignore the feud. We will wait until one family wipes the other family out or the feud is settled. However, if we wait, we will only be doing so for about a month. If the feud either hasn't settled down once more or both families still walk the country, we'll step in. If we have to, I will personally deliver the Vitale family out of this country."

"Why not the Venturi family?"

"I like them, as did all the presidents before me."

"Okay…But you don't like the Vitale family?"

"They're the violent and vile ones."

"So we sit back for about a month until they wipe each other out or one family is dead."

"Or the feud has been settled. To think, a McDonald started it all, a Venturi and McDonald must have mixed together."

"That's what the Chief Doctor said in his report, he stated that George Venturi and Nora McDonald blamed themselves and their kids would be in danger possibly."

"They had kids together?"

"No sir. Venturi has three children, one eighteen year old son, one slightly younger son and a young daughter, Ms. McDonald has two daughters, one is eighteen and the other is slightly younger."

"Then it isn't George Venturi and Nora McDonald that has mixed I'm sure of it. It has to be the most recent generation that awakens this, that's what it has been like in past generations. That means the Venturi son and the McDonald daughter must have mixed together."

"You know a lot about this…"

"All of us Presidents have to know about it. It's in our records because the Feud was such a bad one. Even I have to know about it in case this situation happens and the feud begins again. I know what every President has found out about them and what I write down will be what the next of us knows. Now send a report to the armies and all police forces and tell them to stand back and let the feud end on its own. If a month passes and it is still happening, better yet, if three weeks go by and it is still going on, then will be the time to act. Then we will personally bring down _both_ the Venturi's and the Vitale's. If the feud settles, we'll pardon the Venturi's hopefully they're the ones left because they're the _good_ family."

**-NEW SCENE-**

Derek stood in his cell and crossed his arms. "Max is an idiot, he left the keys to the cell in the room. All I have to do is reach them and I am out of here." Derek walked over to a secluded part of the cell and pulled a pole from out of hiding. _"I'll just get the keys with this thing."_

"Hey there Derek, what are you doing?" Max asked as he stepped in the room. Derek looked over and narrowed his eyes.

"Hello Max, how are you?"

"If you're thinking of escaping, go ahead and try. I must warn you, David has this place surrounded by guards as well as his place. You have nowhere to go but up as well since you're deep in the basement."

"So this place is filled with soldiers?"

"Straight out of an Italian Gangster movie!"

"Yeah that's lame, don't do that."

"I'm serious, they all look like Italian Mobsters. They're wearing those little hats and tuxedoes, I don't know just how many Joeys and Vito's there are out there!"

"Don't mock the Italian Mafia, you know nothing about it."

"You're right, I'm not Italian, and I have nothing to do with your family heritage."

"Which is something I'm damn proud of, so don't be making a mockery of it!"

"That's probably more David than me. However, neither you nor the others will be escaping the condition you're in."

"Hey Max, do you want to know something?" Derek smirked and Max crossed his arms.

"What?"

"Never, remember this, _never_ single out a Venturi. If you go after a Venturi, take out every last one of them, because if you leave one out...that one may just be the one to bite down the hardest."

* * *

That last line could have such a profound effect! Stick around since the next chapter will be up soon. Hope you're enjoying thi


	23. Venturi Blood: Edwin's Plan

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 22 (Venturi Blood, Edwin's Plan)

Edwin sat in the living room chair as four people walked into the house. His hair was combed back and he was also wearing a suit for no apparent reason. "Why?" Tony Venturi asked as he eyed his grandson. "Why are you wearing a suit."

"I usually wear suits, I look good in them," Edwin said with a shrug. Sam and Tiphanie sat on the couch and Dennis McDonald stood with his arms crossed.

"So are you going to explain why I had to bring weapons?"

"Grandpa, do you feel it too?" Tony raised his eyebrow as Edwin looked up to him.

"The feud appears to have started again."

"Yes."

"A Venturi must have mixed with a McDonald…" Dennis raised his eyebrow and looked over.

"Care to explain that part?" Dennis asked. "I haven't mixed with a Venturi in a while."

"Have you met a Vitale?"

"No…"

"Then it isn't you. It must be Nora, though she isn't McDonald by blood…"

"It isn't her," Edwin said as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together. "It is Casey McDonald."

"What!" Dennis and Tony exclaimed as they looked at Edwin, Sam and Tiphanie were the ones that appeared confused.

"You know more than I do grandfather, but I know enough as well. The battle between the Vitale and the Venturi began because of a McDonald."

"Yeah, so are you saying that's where Derek, Casey, Lizzie and Marti are?" Tony asked.

"That is a possibility. If David Brooks is in fact David Vitale then that explains yet another thing. That points to Casey being the target McDonald in this case, plus all arrows point to her because she is purely McDonald blood. Nora is _not_ a McDonald by blood."

"So, Derek's gone after this David kid?" Dennis asked. Edwin sighed and shook his head slowly.

"Casey's been kidnapped by David. Derek ran after them but got captured by Max, then David captured Lizzie and Marti. He forgot though, Marti is still a Venturi and no matter how young they are."

"A Venturi is still a Venturi," Tony said with a brief nod. "Do you think she probably has done something?"

"She's a smart girl, if she's done anything it was probably releasing Casey. Most likely that would have been her gut instinct. Now here's what we are going to do." Edwin slowly stood up and walked over to a window. He clenched his fists and kept a calm look on his face. "We're going to raid Max's hideout and get Derek out of there, no doubt that David, if he is truly a Vitale, which all signs are pointing to right now…he probably has been smart enough to place guards there. We won't be getting very far with bare knuckles. That is why I have asked for you to bring the guns and knives you have brought, grandpa." Tony nodded and stood up from his seat.

"I must say this though. Vitale doesn't know what he's in for," Tony stated as he crossed his arms. "McDonald's always wind up siding with the Venturi's no matter what. Hell, we have a McDonald with us at this moment." Tony pointed casually toward Dennis who just shrugged his shoulders but clenched his jaw.

"That bastard has my daughter," Dennis said quietly. "I need to help."

"I hope you can fight well, McDonald."

"Yes, but could you not call me by my last name like that?" Dennis narrowed his eyes and let out a sigh. "It makes me feel weird."

"We can't exactly help that well," Tiphanie said with a slight sigh. "I mean I can try, but I'm no fighter."

"It is okay," Edwin said as he turned around toward Tiphanie. "If you choose not to help us, that is your choice. We'll get Derek as well as Casey, Lizzie and Marti. Derek and Casey have been dating for two years now, Mr. McDonald. I hope you know that."

"I do now," Dennis said with a chuckle. "That's fine, I've met Derek before and I like the boy."

"Good, he'll be proposing to Casey."

"He will, at only eighteen?"

"He needs to take his responsibility as a father. Casey is three months pregnant."

"Oh no," Tony said as his eyes widened. "That means we have to hurry and get Derek. If the fighting is back on that means it's just going to be a repeat of bloodshed. The first Tony Venturi was murdered by Tito Vitale _after_ Susie McDonald was pregnant. Tony Venturi had a child by that time. The next Venturi, my father was murdered while I was still in my mother's womb. Vixen McDonald was pregnant with someone else's child back then as well. Then she had a son which ended everything, that's why I'm still alive and George is still alive." Dennis raised his eyebrow and looked over at Tony.

"Does this mean that you think Derek may die?" Dennis asked.

"At the rate it looks, Derek has already been captured…"

"He doesn't have a son though."

"Casey McDonald is pregnant with _Derek's_ child."

"Good point. That puts both a McDonald pregnant and a Venturi with a coming child."

"With the Venturi's acting together," Edwin said calmly. "We can turn that around and end it before that should repeat. You're here grandpa, I'm here, there's Marti and there is also Derek. Granted Marti is young and not much into the whole fight to defend thing just yet, she's smart like a Venturi. With all of us working together, and a McDonald by our side, we can change or end this feud as of now." The phone began to ring so Edwin took the opportunity to answer it.

"Edwin this is your dad, how are you?" George asked.

"I'm fine, what about you?"

"I was shot, but that's no big deal." Edwin raised his eyebrow.

"What do you mean that's no big deal? Who shot you and are you okay?"

"Yes I am fine, and Georgia Vitale-Brooks shot me."

"What! I should have known a Vitale would do this…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing. I'm going to hang up now dad, I have some family business to attend to."

"Uh…okay." Edwin hung up and looked over at his grandpa.

"Dad's been shot!"

"What?" Tony's eyebrow twitched as Edwin let out a sigh.

"Georgia Vitale is the one that shot him down."

"Things just keep getting worse for that Vitale family," Tony said through clenched teeth. "Shooting my son when he knew nothing about what was going on."

"True, dad wasn't involved in this but that's okay as long as he's safe. I want to save Lizzie and the others so we better hurry and go."

"Okay, well I guess I should say choose your weapon, but I still think you're too young to be using any guns."

"We won't survive without the guns, however if you are that concerned, do you think you can handle this family mission with me watching from the sidelines?"

"Yes."

"If you're taken out, I'm going in."

"Okay…" Edwin looked over at Sam and Tiphanie.

"Do either of you know where the Vitale Mansion is?"

"I do," Sam said as he raised his hand. "If you need me to go there, I will…"

"I want you and Tiphanie to go there and look out for any guards. I get the feeling that Casey will be out of that area."

"What makes you think that?" Edwin shrugged his shoulders.

"It's just a gut feeling that I have." Edwin walked over to a table and picked up a map. "Grandpa, Mr. McDonald, this is a map to where Derek said the warehouse he was locked up in was at. You two are going there and you two will be requested to get Derek out. If there are any problems, do not hesitate to call me." Tony took the map and nodded his head.

"Uh, yeah I'll definitely call you, Edwin," Tony said quietly.

"If anything happens to this Venturi, I'll let you know," Dennis said as he casually pointed his thumb toward Tony and chuckled. "I still can't believe you're sending out a couple of old timers to save Derek. Granted that Tony is probably tough, but he's what, seventy eight years old?"

"Yeah…what's your point?"

"I'm also forty eight just to let you know. So you're sending a couple of old timers out here."

"Do you feel like you can't do the job?" Edwin asked. "I think you can do it just fine. As I said, do not hesitate to call me. I'm actually going to be going along with Tiphanie and Sam to make sure nothing bad happens there."

"If it's to save Casey, I'm in," Tiphanie said quickly.

"Yeah, same for me," Sam responded. Edwin smiled and nodded as he crossed his arms.

"Okay, let's take care of the bastards that have taken my family," Edwin stated. "Everybody, move out!"

* * *

There's Edwin and it looks like he's in charge. Next chapter will be coming soon


	24. Venturi Blood: Derek's Escape

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 23 (Derek's Escape)

Tony and Dennis stepped onto the area where the warehouse was located, they looked around and saw nobody. "So Derek is here?" Dennis asked.

"Yes, that's what Edwin said," Tony responded.

"Yeah, I'm not good with rifles or guns of any kind."

"Too bad…You'll just have to work with it."

"So this Max kid, he isn't a Vitale?"

"I don't believe he is."

"Okay so then he's not dangerous?"

"He has my grandson captive, of _course_ he's dangerous!" Tony reached into his overcoat and pulled off two sawed off shotguns. "Now, let's go inside."

"I'm not enjoying this." Tony chuckled as he and Dennis stepped inside the warehouse.

**-NEW SCENE-**

Derek stepped out of the cell, he finally managed to escape. _"Now I just need to get the hell out of here and safe Casey before David does anything more to her."_ Derek looked over at a table and saw a pistol sitting on it. "That's the gun Max had. I don't like guns too much but in situations like this…" Derek walked over and picked up the gun, he clicked the safety on and put it in his pocket. Derek opened a drawer and found several clips for the gun, he put those in his pocket too. "Good opportunity to reload when I need to." Derek made his way to the door and looked out, someone was standing guard. _"Damn."_ Derek took a long, Garrote wire out from his pocket, he found it inside the cell. He snuck behind the guard and swiftly pulled the wire around the man's neck and made sure the man was unconscious. "Okay, I didn't kill him, good…" Derek pulled out his gun and slowly made his way up a flight of stairs.

"And so I says to the guy," A man's voice stated. "That's no beef lasagna, that's my _wife_!" Derek raised his eyebrow and shuddered at the poor joke the man just made.

_"Okay…lame…"_

"Then the guy looks at me and says, 'No really? I thought your wife was the Meatball!" Derek couldn't take the joke any more and broke out laughing at the ridiculous statement. The men looked over and Derek chuckled.

"Sorry but that joke was lame!" Derek jumped out of the way to avoid getting hit by the Dillinger that the man had. Derek rolled out of the way and fired the Python pistol he had at the man. He hit the man in the knee and then the abdomen. Derek then shot the other man in the chest and walked to them. "I like that Dillinger, but I don't think I need it, this Python is pretty decent." (A/N: Python and Dillinger are the names of guns, they appear in mob shows.)

"Damn you Venturi, how'd you get out!"

"Luck I guess. However Max made it pretty damn easy to escape, so I'll be seeing you later!"

"Why don't you kill us?"

"You're not necessarily my enemy…I mean, you're not the one who has my girlfriend." Derek quickly ran up the stairs and jumped behind some crates, he peeked over the crates and saw numerous people moving around the room. _"Damn, I have to get past these people without disturbing anyone. Okay those two to the left are talking to each other, that guy to the right is reading a magazine. Those two people over there to directly in front of me are just moving around."_ Derek spotted a rock on the ground and picked it up, he looked around and decided to throw it at the wall. He did so and the men ran over, Derek took that opportunity to slip past everyone, unseen. _"Everybody here is wearing suits and caps…I stand out too much."_ Derek looked over to see a person resting in a chair. _"Nice, a guy sleeping, maybe I can get a suit from him…"_ Derek slowly walked over to the man.

**-NEW SCENE-**

"Okay, I don't know just how far we've gotten but I'm not enjoying this," Dennis complained, yet again. Tony sighed and shook his head slowly.

"Quit complaining," Tony said sternly. "Okay so we've had to kill a few people here and there, at least when we leave the place we will not be worrying about anybody standing in our way."

"You got that right," A voice stated from behind. Tony felt the barrel of a gun put to his head. "I got on the nearest flight over here and found this, so Venturi's kid is held up here." Tony turned around and spotted Georgia Vitale with a scowl on her face. "That bastard Venturi may still be alive, but I'm going to take down his kid."

"Heh, which one? He has _three_."

"So? I'll take all three down without a single problem. I didn't think I'd be seeing an old man around here…Old Venturi, I'm guessing you're Tony Venturi."

"Hey lady, who do you think you are?" Dennis asked.

"I'm Georgia Vitale, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Dennis McDonald, it's _not_ a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, we have a McDonald fighting with Venturi, well it makes sense if you ask me."

"Tell me, have you ever had a McDonald shoot a Vitale?" Dennis aimed his gun toward Georgia and frowned. "I'm a little upset with the whole thing going on right now, my daughter's life is being threatened and you nearly killed the fiancé of my ex wife."

"Ah, so Nora McDonald wasn't a pure McDonald."

"No, that was me obviously. My daughter on the other hand…"

"Oh she is, but she's not going to wind up getting the Venturi brat, only because Venturi will die. One Venturi must die, but all Venturi's are going to die."

"Calmly back away, Vitale," Tony said with a low growl. Georgia glanced over at Tony and smirked.

"I just killed my husband when he asked me to relax and stay calm, do you expect me to calm down because _you_ ask me to? Shut the hell up and die Venturi!" Georgia pulled the trigger and Tony gasped as he slowly fell to the ground. Dennis's eyes were wide as he stared at Tony's lifeless body.

"Y-You killed Tony Venturi, what the hell are you going around shooting old men for!"

"He was going to die anyway, McDonald."

"Hey, I'm not excited about what's going on but I'm not happy about my daughter's happiness being threatened. My daughter must be in love with Derek since she's pregnant-"

"All McDonalds will be in love with a Venturi." Dennis raised his eyebrow and Georgia looked over at him. "Well the female McDonalds at least. Hence, it will be an unrequited love on the Vitale's part, however that's why Vitale's hate the Venturi's. They know full well they will never get the McDonald girl unless they try something desperate, like my son has done. Don't worry McDonald, I won't kill you. Although we Vitale's are evil and cruel enough to do such a vile thing. Vitale's and Venturi's both are cursed with a soft heart for the McDonalds. It's generally the Venturi's that will get very upset if something happens to a McDonald. That is why the love is between the Venturi and the McDonald, _not_ Vitale. Tito and Tony Venturi didn't realize this, they fought each other over Susie McDonald. One was jealous and the other was protecting his turf as well as Susie. In the end, their fighting became more important than Susie and they didn't notice another person kidnap her and impregnate her. She escaped safely but bore a child with no father."

"Yeah, I remember reading about that in my genealogy records…"

"Vitale fights to kill Venturi so that he may get McDonald. Venturi may love McDonald and McDonald will always love Venturi…Never before has _this_ happened before though."

"What?"

"The outcome could be different."

"What! Tell me."

"Never before has a Venturi and a McDonald managed to already be romantically linked together and with Venturi fathering a child with McDonald. Usually it happens where McDonald doesn't become romantically connected with either Vitale or Venturi. However I think this was destined to happen, McDonald and Venturi could never stay apart for a long time and that is why they met. They would have met up eventually, as your ex wife is marrying George Venturi, but somehow they met up before that and therefore became romantically involved with each other. So now there is that extreme emotional attachment, personally…I hope Derek will be the one to end this feud and get your daughter out alive."

"That's odd, I would have thought you'd be on your son's side."

"Did you not see me kill Tony Venturi just now? It's in my blood so before Derek Venturi arrives…" Georgia lifted her gun to her head and Dennis's eyes grew wide.

'What the hell are you doing!"

"Stopping my generation's reign of evil. If I were to continue living I would only try to kill more Venturi's and probably end up giving birth to yet another Vitale. So I'm going to end this war, and the battle of love and hate will end with our children. Goodbye Dennis McDonald, it was nice knowing you." Georgia pulled the trigger and her body fell on top of Tony's body.

"Mr. McDonald!" A voice exclaimed. Dennis looked up and saw Derek standing in the doorway.

"Derek, hello," Dennis said as he raised an eyebrow. "What's with your family and suits?"

"Sorry, I had to blend in." Derek looked down and gasped. "Well…my grandfather is…dead now."

"Yes, and she did it. She also shot your father but I think he's still alive."

"Well he _better_ be!"

"Do you know anything about the Venturi and Vitale wars?"

"More than anyone else in my family, why?"

"So I take it you know about the McDonalds?"

"Not entirely, no. I really only know that the war started with a dispute over a very beautiful girl. Sort of like what's _about_ to happen with me and David."

"You do realize that he's…"

"A Vitale, yes I've figured that much out over time. I also assume that's his mother right there."

"My daughter is pregnant also?" Derek looked up and nodded.

"Yes but now is not the time for discussing this, we need to get to Casey and rescue her."

"You realize that you could die, right? I think there was something about the Vitale always killing the Venturi in question when the woman is with child and the Venturi has a pregnant wife or something. Both aspects are in play here apparently…"

"If I die protecting Casey, I want her to live. If she survives then I am happy, however I am not intending to die. I refuse to give her that sadness with my death, I will never cause her to get hurt."

"Derek, you love Casey."

"Yes."

"Will you be marrying my daughter?"

"Yes. Did you know the Venturi's had a capability to be blunt if not a bit abrupt in the past. When it all started, Tony Venturi fell in love with the woman first and he was going to propose to her just on the first date. He bought her a ring but it never got to her finger. My family still has that ring to this very day, I am going to propose to Casey and give her that ring. It is almost as beautiful as her and it is a much cherished family heirloom."

"She'll love it then." Dennis smiled and crossed his arms. "It will definitely make her feel special and cherished by the man she loves and it is due to be placed on her finger."

"Yeah…"

"You do realize that the woman who the dispute was over was named Susie McDonald, right?" Derek blinked and looked over at Dennis. That meant Casey was the direct descendant of Susie McDonald, he did not think of that. He smiled coolly and patted Dennis on the shoulder.

"Let's go and get Casey. I have a proposition to make that has been _long_ overdue."

"Okay, and just so you know, Tony and I cleared out all the people behind us."

"Then that is the way we shall go." Derek looked down at Tony and Georgia and frowned, a feud that started in 1898 and it was still going on to this very day. One Hundred and ten years, Derek was determined to end it before it progressed another day.

* * *

There's the chapter, it seems that Derek is out of there!


	25. Venturi Blood: Freedom

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

Chapter 24 (Venturi Blood: Freedom)

* * *

Casey made her way through the ventilation system, true she was getting very dirty but it was necessary. _"Once I get out of here, I need to find Derek,"_ Casey thought as she let out a cough. _"There's a lot of dust in here. I wonder if I should go back to where Marti Lizzie…No, that would defeat the purpose that Marti had for getting me out."_ Casey crawled forward and looked down through one of the vents and spotted David. _'There's the bastard right now. I hope Derek gives him what he deserves."_ Casey looked ahead and spotted grass outside of a vent, she smiled and realized she was close to freedom. She swiftly crawled to the vent and slowly took off the screen. _"Dear god, sweet freedom!"_ Casey poked her head out the hole and looked around, nobody was around. _"Great, I can make a run for it here. I don't care what happens, they can't keep me from Derek no matter what they do."_ Casey crawled out and stood up slowly. _"That David doesn't know what he's in for, if I had my way, he'd be sent off the Grand Canyon."_ Casey pressed her back against the wall and moved to the corner of the house where she heard two people talking.

"Okay so David has ordered us to be on the lookout for Casey McDonald. Apparently he says she's escaped. If that's the case then we should get her back or David will be upset," The man said.

"Oh yeah, especially since it may look as though Venturi will win this one, however does Venturi ever win?" Another asked.

"Generations of fighting and neither of them really won. It's all come down to this!"

"Are you sure? It just looks like a whole Venturi versus Vitale again. Of course, no Vitale has ever captured McDonald before." Casey raised her eyebrow and turned her head to look toward the wooded area. "Seriously though, it's stupid a century old feud over one measly woman. What was her name again?"

"Susie McDonald, and then Vixen McDonald. The Feud sort of died out after that, after that Vixen McDonald had given birth to a male child and that child gave birth to a male child. Now it seems that things are boiling up because the McDonald girl is back in the lives of the Venturi and Vitale families."

_"What the hell? This has happened before? I don't understand,"_ Casey thought as she shook her head slowly. She shrugged and decided that now would be the best time to make a mad dash for the woods. She heard the two men shout at her as she neared the trees, she didn't look back and heard a gunshot fly by her head. _"Damn, damn, damn!"_ Casey looked down at her outfit and groaned. _"He couldn't have kidnapped me before I put on my nightgown?"_ Casey reached the woods and continued to run until she reached a small hole that she hid in. Two people ran past her and she covered her head.

"Where'd she go!" The man exclaimed. "Where the hell is that McDonald girl!"

_"Give me one reason not to smack them both across the face!"_

"Are you looking for my stepsister?" Someone asked. Casey raised her eyebrow and froze for a second.

_"Edwin?"_

"Nobody messes with the Venturi family and gets away with it, furthermore, you don't mess around with my brother's girlfriend and get away with it!" Edwin exclaimed.

"Yeah, you leave Casey alone you two weirdoes!" Tiphanie exclaimed.

"_Great_ statement there, Tiphanie," Sam said as he shook his head. Casey's eyes were wide, she wasn't expecting any of them to be here.

"Okay you two morons, who are you after?" Edwin asked.

"What's it to you? Oh, and what do you think you're going to be doing?" The man asked.

"Me, oh I'm not going to do anything. I'm just going to take the Vitale family…I'm going to kill the entire family and make them feel the pain. That is, if anything has happened to Lizzie or if anything has happened to Casey. Oh, and if anything happened to Marti, things are about to get hellish. Plus, someone must be willing to take responsibility for the shooting of our father."

"Wow, who shot George Venturi?"

"Georgia Vitale."

_"George got shot?"_ Casey asked with wide eyes. _"Shouldn't he and mom be back by now?"_

"Well then it wasn't us so there's nothing you have against us, right?" The man asked.

"Wrong, I have everything against you people. You are the ones who have taken Lizzie, Casey and Marti. For your sake you better not have hurt them."

"What if we did?" Casey heard Edwin fire a gunshot from two guns and the men shouted loudly.

"Next time the bullets won't go in your legs. They will go elsewhere on your body."

"Damn you."

"If you desire to keep your life, you'd do yourself a favor and do not move." Casey quickly shot out from her hiding spot.

"Edwin what are you doing!" Casey exclaimed. Edwin looked over at Casey and smiled. "Edwin I understand they're bad guys but…"

"You're safe, that's what is important." Edwin put his guns in his holster and sighed. "I don't intend to kill them unless I have to."

"Casey, you're alive!" Tiphanie exclaimed as she ran over and hugged her. "We were so worried, how did you get out?"

Marti…she freed me," Casey said quietly.

"I suppose they're both still trapped in there?"

"Yes." Edwin crossed his arms and sighed.

"Tiphanie, Sam, get her out of here while I go and get Lizzie and Marti. It's your job to get Casey to Derek as quickly as possible."

"Wait, Derek's okay?"

"He should be now. Grandpa and Mr. McDonald went to get him."

"D-Dad went to get him?" Casey's eyes were wide, she didn't expect that part, what would her father think when he found out she was pregnant. Not only that but her stepfather was shot and the family had some weird history. Now Edwin looked ready to lead a total war.

"Yes, and so he will be free from any harm, basically."

"Edwin, was it true that George was shot?"

"Yes. Now isn't the time for all this, you must go now." Casey nodded and followed Sam and Tiphanie away. _"I'll attack from the inside. I'll let them capture me and take me to Lizzie and Marti, from there, we will move out."_

**-NEW SCENE-**

"It's really great that you're alive," Tiphanie said as she breathed a sigh of relief. "You won't believe how a worried we were about you!"

"Thanks Tiphanie, I wasn't sure what I was going to end up doing if I stayed in there another second," Casey responded.

"Well we need to get you home and somewhere safe," Sam said as he looked over to Casey. "We can't have you getting in trouble again."

"Yeah…oh by the way you guys, I'm pregnant."

"Yeah, we heard about that earlier. We're happy for you."

"Come on, let's go," Tiphanie said quickly.

"You're going where?" A voice asked. Casey, Sam and Tiphanie turned around to see a group of men standing at them with their guns pointed. "You two we don't care about, you can leave."

"But…"

"Leave!"

"Okay!" Tiphanie and Sam stood for a second before a bullet landed at their feet, they quickly turned and ran.

"Damn," Casey said quietly as she raised her hands in the air. "Well I guess you got me."

"You bet your sweet ass we did," The man said. Casey raised her eyebrow and growled lightly. "Didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah, I bet you didn't."

"Just shut up and walk back to the mansion."

**-NEW SCENE-**

"Edwin!" Lizzie exclaimed as he was dragged into the room. Lizzie's face nearly dropped as the person hooked his arms with a wire. "What are you doing here, Edwin?" The person that had dragged Edwin in the room soon left and Edwin glanced over at Lizzie.

"This is all part of the plan," Edwin said.

"Did you get Casey?" Marti asked quickly. Edwin nodded and smirked.

"All part of the plan, we got Casey out and now we can attack from here."

"Okay Edwin, that's good. Do you know how Derek is doing?"

"He should be safe, grandpa and Mr. McDonald went to search for him."

"Dad!" Lizzie exclaimed with wide eyes as she looked at Edwin. "You mean he's here?"

"Yeah, we had him help us out."

"Great…I hope he's not too worried."

"He's afraid for you but he's not as afraid. Anyway, all we have to do is-"

"Hey, let me go! I can walk on my own!" A voice exclaimed. Edwin raised his eyebrow and looked over at the door and watched as Casey was shoved into the room.

_"Well this is unexpected."_ Two men pushed Casey against a chair and tied her up with ropes.

"Stay here this time, bitch," One of the men said quickly. The two men then walked out of the room and Casey let out a sigh.

"Casey, what happened?"

"We were found," Casey said as she looked over to Edwin. "Tiphanie and Sam got away though."

"This figures, I have to think of something else now."

"Hey Casey, did you and Derek really meet under the stars?" Marti asked. Edwin raised his eyebrow and looked over at Marti.

"Now is hardly the time..."

"We met under the stars in the secluded area of the park for the first day. That's where David actually attacked us."

_"Isn't that where the feud began as well? If I remember correctly from hearing my grandfather talk, that's where Venturi and Vitale met McDonald."_ Edwin sighed and shook his head slowly.

"Well Edwin, what do you propose we do _now?"_ Lizzie asked. Marti giggled slightly and Lizzie looked over to see Marti pulling her wrist out form the wire hold.

"We're getting you guys out of here," Marti stated as she freed herself and pulled out the knife. She took off the cap and cut the wires and ropes on the others.

"Thank you Marti," Edwin said with a grin. "Marti, can you handle escaping?"

"Hey, you know how sneaky I am, as long as Casey and Lizzie follow my lead…"

"Yeah, I'm a light sleeper and you walk by my room every single night and manage not to wake me up."

"Three in the morning, I'm hungry, I'm not letting you wake up."

"Anyway, that's not important. What is important is that you take Casey and Lizzie the direction Casey left before…"

"That was the ventilation system."

"Right…well anyway, here is my plan."

* * *

There it is, dang Casey got out but caught again. Lucky her, Edwin and Marti appear to have a plan, I wonder if things are looking up for the McDonalds.


	26. Venturi Blood: The Great Escape

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 25 (Venturi Blood: The Great Escape)

Edwin stood in at the edge of the wall and glanced out the caged bars of the door. He put his hand into his jacket and pulled out his two sawed off shotguns. He looked at the vent system and smirked, the girls should be getting out soon. "Hey!" Edwin exclaimed from the entrance of the door. "I'm thirsty!" The two guards that stood outside the door groaned in response.

"So what of it?"

"Well, it's not really me who is thirsty, its David's girl. She's dying of thirst and hunger!"

"What! Quick we have to get in there!" Edwin placed his back flat against the wall as the two guards opened the door and ran past him without noticing. They stooped and raised their eyebrows. "Where'd they go?" Edwin then clicked his guns.

"Heh, you stupid morons, you're like pigeons, too damn dumb to think about anything." The men stopped and turned to see Edwin aiming his guns toward them.

"How did this happen?" Edwin smirked and fired two bullets into the men's chests.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Edwin stepped out into the halls and looked around. "Okay, I'm on the bottommost floor, so only way to go is up. Let's try to keep the deaths as low as possible, wounding them is good…" Of course Edwin didn't want to kill anyone, but if it came to that then he would have to. _"Ugh, at least they're all criminals."_ Edwin made his way to two stairs and pressed his back against the wall as four men walked down the steps. His eyes darted around the room; he sighed and shook his head. _"Okay…"_ Edwin jumped in front of the people. "Adios!" The four men shouted as Edwin fired off a round of bullets into the men.

When the smoke cleared, four people lay on the stairwell. "Venturi strikes down again…" Edwin walked up the stairs and stepped over the bodies. "The more bad guys brought down, the better." Edwin edged his way toward a door. The door opened and he quickly pressed himself flatly against the wall. A man in a black suit walked out and looked around. He was a big man and he had a Dillinger in his hand. Edwin fired a shot and the man groaned as he fell to the ground. "My, how the giants will crash when they fall."

"Hey, who are you!" Another man exclaimed as he ran out of the room. Edwin raised his eyebrow as he saw several people start to surround him.

"Your worst nightmare," Edwin said as he lifted his guns and fired a shot. The guns clicked but did not fire. _"Crap, out of ammo."_

"Hah, you're out of ammo now, little punk!"

"Don't underestimate me." Edwin threw the guns on the ground and quickly leapt toward the Dillinger that lay on the ground. He grabbed it and rolled out of the way in time to avoid several bullets. "Close, but no cigar…"

"Why you little punk, kill him!"

"You _wish_ you could kill me." Edwin opened fire upon the men and quickly grabbed one of the men. He pulled the man in front of him as a bullet was fired toward him, when the man fell to the ground, Edwin fired off more bullets. "How many of you people are out here!"

"There's about twenty of us in the hall you were about to go in."

"Damn…Then I'll just have to continue mowing you down until I get the hell out of here!" The man fired a bullet toward Edwin but missed, barely. Edwin turned the gun toward the man and riddled him with bullets. "I am so thankful that Lizzie and Marti don't have to see this."

"It sucks to be you punk!" Another man exclaimed as he fired a shot into Edwin's arm.

"Crap!" Edwin turned and fired more shots. He then ducked behind a crate that lay in the hall. "Why the hell is there a crate here in the first place?" Edwin lifted the gun in the air and continued to fire bullets. Edwin rolled out in the middle of the hall and moved the gun from side to side in between the walls as he fired; he then rolled back behind the crate as more bullets were fired.

"Damn you kid!"

"Hah, and they thought I wouldn't be fitted for the army!" Edwin's phone rang so he quickly answered it. "Hey, I don't have a lot of time, what's going on."

"Edwin, its Derek!"

"Did you get out of that hellhole?"

"Yes."

"Great, now I'm getting out of one."

"Edwin, our grandfather's been shot!"

"What!"

"Georgia Vitale shot him, he's dead!"

"No! Damn that sucks. How is Mr. McDonald?"

"He's just fine."

"Great." Edwin hung up the phone and growled. "Damn you Vitale!" Edwin leapt out in front of the crate and began to fire wildly around the room, he hit several of the men and when he stopped shooting, most of the men were on the ground. The ones that were still standing were bleeding and standing in shock. Edwin pointed his gun at the two men still standing and scowled. "You there, how many are there in this damn place?"

"We uh…we don't know!"

"Wrong answer!" Edwin fired a shot into the man's leg. "How many people are there?"

"Damn you punk!"

"Again….not the answer I was looking for." Edwin fired a shot into the man's arm.

"Ah! There are four floors including the first floor of the mansion. That means there are three floors underneath it."

"Great, that doesn't tell _me_ anything."

"Okay! Just don't shoot us again!"

"Tell me what I want to know."

"There are twenty five of us on each floor."

"So the upper floors of the mansion don't have anybody?"

"That is correct; everyone is below the mansion or on the first floor of the mansion."

"Great, now drop those guns in your hands."

"But…"

"Drop them!" The men dropped their weapons and Edwin shot them up with his gun.

"Aw man, those were perfectly good guns!"

"Yeah, okay bastards, I'm going to leave you here to work things out on your own."

"Why don't you just kill us?"

"I don't particularly feel like it. Oh dang, I have to call Derek back up!"

**-NEW SCENE-**

Marti took off the front of the vent system and crawled out on the lawn, she looked around to make sure there were no guards nearby. She then gestured for Casey and Lizzie to get out of the vents. "Okay guys, be very quiet," Marti said quietly.

"Yeah, thanks," Casey said as she hugged Marti. Lizzie stood up straight and dusted herself off.

"I think I hate David with every fiber in my body," Lizzie said with a growl. "What happens if we get caught, do we run?"

"As much as I hate fighting and blood, I may have to fight," Marti said quietly.

"No you won't," Casey said as she narrowed her eyes. "I'm sick of this stuff, the history that you've explained to me and whatnot portrays McDonalds in a sorrowful light."

"All they did was get in the way and cause a bitter rivalry to start, there's nothing bad about them."

"I realize that, but I'm still going to fight."

"You're pregnant," Lizzie said as she crossed her arms. "It's a _bad_ idea for you to fight."

"Yeah, you're right actually, we shouldn't fight when I'm pregnant."

"That's why I'm trying to get you guys out of here as safely as possible," Marti said with a low growl. "Edwin's already working on getting out of there; let's make sure we don't get back in there." Marti pressed her back against the house and looked around the corner. "We have to get back to the meeting area, there place is clear. A good idea is _not_ to run directly across an open field. Wait for me." Marti glanced over and spotted a large rock on the ground, big enough for Casey to hide behind. Marti swiftly ran toward the rock and ducked behind it. She pointed one finger in the air and then pointed to Casey and gestured for her to come. Casey did so and hid behind the rock, soon it was Lizzie's turn, Marti ran behind a nearby tree. Casey followed and Lizzie ran afterwards. Soon the three were in a secluded part of the woods; it was the place where Casey met Edwin earlier.

"Not bad maneuvering," A voice said with a light applause. Marti looked over and saw Max standing behind them. "Did you think you'd get away from David?"

"Max! Why are you doing all of this?" Casey asked with growing anger. "You shot me!"

"Well that was unexpected actually."

"Max, you do _not_ want to irritate us," Marti said with a growl. She was swallowing her childish fear and taking stand. She lifted her knife in the air. "I'll fight you if I have to." Max looked at her and chuckled.

"You, hah that's a laugh, you're just a frightened little girl." Max took a step toward Marti and she stepped back in fear. "You don't even have what it takes to take me on so what makes you think you could handle David? You can't handle a run in with a single thug. Listen, I know what I'm doing is wrong, okay, but there isn't anything I can do about it." Max heard something rustle so he lowered his voice. "I could help you out you know…"

"I don't believe you. Besides, you shot Casey and tried to kill Derek!"

"Yeah, so what?" Max's body jerked forward and he fell to the ground. Everyone stared with wide eyes at him and looked up to see Edwin holding a pistol in his hand; he also had a piece of cloth wrapped around his arm.

"Are you girls okay?" Edwin asked as he walked toward them. "That will teach him to mess with a Venturi."

"Edwin, did you kill him?" Lizzie asked as she stared at Max.

"No, I tried not to kill him. I don't like having to kill people unless it's absolutely necessary. He'll regain consciousness and find a hospital, but we have more important matters to deal with." Edwin looked to Marti and smirked. "Well, you're pretty dang tough, Marti. When it comes to fighting, I'll take it from here, but I doubt we're going to have to deal with this anymore."

"What makes you say that?" Marti asked.

"It's simple really, all one hundred bad guys in that mansion are down, it was really difficult, but if you have a good weapon you will make it out safely. I _never_ thought I'd see the day I had to say that."

"This was not how I wanted to go about my life with Derek," Casey said flatly. "Will I know that Derek will live?"

"I think he will live…"

"What makes you say that?"

"A Venturi and a Vitale have been sacrificed for Derek's life."

"What?" Edwin sighed and looked over at Marti with a frown.

"Grandpa…has died."

"What!" Marti exclaimed with wide eyes. She ran over and grabbed Edwin.

"Not so much grabbing, my body is tired from all the running and dodging. Somehow I managed to come out of there with a small hit from a bullet to the arm. The cloth just looks cool!"

"Grandpa's dead?" Marti had a tear rolling down her face. "Why did he die?"

"Because of this damn war, that's why. Derek wants to end this war here and now, I want to end it here as well. Together, we Venturi's…" Edwin looked over at Casey and Lizzie. "With the help of the McDonalds, are going to end this war here today."

"I don't think it's a good idea to involve Casey and Lizzie any further," Marti said as she wiped a tear from her face. "We can get Casey and Derek together but we should at least get Lizzie to a safe place."

"Mr. McDonald is heading this way, he can transport you and Lizzie home."

"What? Why?"

"There's no reason for you to involve yourself further either." Edwin placed his hands on Lizzie's shoulders and smiled. "You are a very sensitive girl, you don't like all this fighting, and you do not need to see the final bout." The group walked out of the woods and saw Mr. McDonald standing next to a car.

"Casey, Lizzie!" Mr. McDonald exclaimed as he ran over to his two girls. "You're safe!"

"Dad!" Casey and Lizzie exclaimed as they hugged their father. Dennis looked over his two daughters and smiled softly.

"No wounds at all, I'm happy." Dennis looked over at Edwin and Marti. "Thank you so much for protecting them."

"Any day sir," Edwin said with a small salute. "Now you know the deal, you have to take Lizzie and Marti back to the house. Casey will be fine." Dennis nodded as Lizzie and Marti got into the car. "I promise that until I hand her over to Derek, nothing else will happen to her. When she is with Derek, she will be safest."

"Thank you again." Dennis got into the car and Edwin smiled.

"All the pieces are in place. The king is in the corner waiting for the knight to bring the queen to him, the bishop and the rook are being transported to a safe area and only the enemy king remains in waiting." Edwin clicked his gun and put it in his jacket as he gestured for Casey to follow him.

* * *

Well Edwin got them out and next up we may just get to see Derek's big fight. What will happen next chapter though, only I know! Hope you liked this one!


	27. Venturi Versus Vitale

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 26 (Venturi versus Vitale)

"So where are we going now?" Casey asked as she walked with Edwin through the streets. "Do you have any idea?"

"Yes. We're heading for Derek," Edwin responded.

"Edwin, is this going to change anything?"

"What, all this fighting? No. Everything will be in peace when this is over. I spoke with Derek over the phone a little while ago, he said that he got a call from someone with power, when this war is over any deaths between the Venturi's and the Vitale's will be pardoned. All deaths will be sanctioned and we will be free of any further trouble, we just have to make sure there are no civilian deaths, which is why Max is not dead."

"What if Max tries to attack afterwards? I don't want Derek to be shot at again!"

"He shouldn't, he'll be free from David's iron grip. Unless he's truly evil, he won't attack you again, and if he does…he'll be arrested."

"Derek won't be arrested and none of you will, right?"

"That is correct."

"You all will be pardoned?"

"The Venturi families will be pardoned for whatever happened in the past century. Our final family mission is to protect you and defeat the final remaining Vitale. Once this happens, the Vitale family will be completely wiped out and the war will not break again."

"I don't have to worry about Dad, Lizzie, or Marti getting in trouble, do I?"

"No. They will be fine. You will have nobody else to worry about."

"So where is David right now?"

"Probably getting prepared for the final battle."

"T-The final battle?" Casey raised her eyebrow and let out a sigh. "What does that mean?" Edwin shrugged as he and Casey walked into the park.

"This will be a hand to hand fight, but since I don't trust Vitale any, I'm giving Derek this pistol."

"Don't tell me you met up with David…and let him know where Derek was!"

"Derek's pretty mad at David for some things. What happened to you in there?"

"Well David was doing stuff to me…" Edwin raised his eyebrow and sighed.

"At least you're pregnant with Derek's children already."

"Yeah, but I would like to see him now."

"In a minute, and I'll be here as well in case I'm needed." Edwin grabbed a bush and pushed it out of the way. "Do you recognize this area?"

"This…this is where Derek and I first met."

"Exactly, would you believe it's where Tony Venturi and Susie McDonald first met as well?"

"I did not know that and I'm not sure I wanted to know that actually." Edwin shrugged and stepped into the area.

"Hey Derek, you here!"

"Yeah I'm here." Derek stepped into view and held his arms out with a smile. Casey looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"Derek!' Casey exclaimed as she ran toward Derek. He grabbed her waist and spun her in a circle in the air and placed her on the ground. He then kissed her on the lips. Casey added to the pressure of the kiss and the two held it for a minute before breaking.

"How long has it been?" Derek asked with a smirk. "I've wanted to kiss those sweet lips of yours for such a long time."

"I think it's only been a day," Casey said with a smirk of her own. "So you couldn't go a day without kissing me?"

"Oh, that's not _all_ I couldn't go a day without." Casey chuckled and slapped Derek playfully. "God, I love you Casey, I'm so glad you're safe."

"You shouldn't be worried about me, Derek."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Derek caressed Casey's face with his hand and brushed some of her hair back.

"I love you Derek. So when this is all done, do you think that you and I could have some much needed fun?"

"If by that you mean you in a bed with me…I could consider that." Derek grinned sheepishly and Casey let out a small laugh. Edwin rolled his eyes and groaned as he walked up to Derek.

"Derek, you know what to do," Edwin said as he pulled a pistol from his jacket. Derek nodded and took the pistol, he then placed the pistol inside of his suit.

"Marti hasn't touched a gun, has she?"

"No."

"Good, I don't want Marti to have to deal with something like that. She's too sweet to hold a gun."

"Right. Okay, I'm going to be hiding behind a few trees." Derek nodded as Edwin walked behind a few trees; he then wrapped his arms around Casey's waist and kissed her lips.

"Still sweet and beautiful lips."

"Thank you, your kisses are still pretty damn good," Casey said with a smile. "You also look good in that suit." Casey smirked and Derek chuckled.

"You really think so? This isn't exactly what I'd consider my suit, but it's the best thing I could use."

"Edwin sent Lizzie and Marti back home, they're with my dad. I'm terribly sorry about what happened to your grandfather." Derek nodded and let out a sigh.

"He died for a good cause though. He died to save a McDonald and help me get out so I can find you. His sacrifice will not be in vain."

"Will you promise me that you won't die? I really would rather not lose you."

"Don't worry Casey, I won't die." Derek ran his fingers through Casey's hair and smiled. "I won't leave you or those children behind in this cruel world."

"Any idea who called you?"

"It was the police chief, he was calling whatever Venturi he could get a hold of and he couldn't get a hold of George Venturi or something. Anyway, he found me and so he contacted me to say that the president as allowed this war to continue for a short amount of time before they'd be forced to act. All deaths will be sanctioned until this has been lifted."

"Okay, that's understandable." Derek heard the rustling of leaves and he quickly released Casey.

"Casey," Derek whispered as he looked around. "Go to where Edwin ran off to and stay there." Casey nodded and ran to Edwin, David stepped into view and chuckled.

"Derek Venturi, here you are," David said with a smirk. "Odd that this place would be chosen for the final battle."

"This was where it all began Vitale, and this is where it will end. Just you versus me, are you ready to pay for your crimes?"

"What crimes are those?"

"Let's see, I think all the ones that you've committed against my girlfriend, those would be the crimes that I'm talking about!"

"I'm afraid I didn't quite catch that."

"You've attempted to kill me but instead your flunky got my girlfriend. You've kidnapped her, raped her, and probably done several other things to her. I don't appreciate that."

"Well then, come for me!"

"I'll let you strike first."

"Big mistake on your part, Venturi." David charged toward Derek and threw his fist toward Derek. Derek dodged out of the way and kicked David in the back. David growled and grabbed Derek's leg, he swiftly pulled Derek through the air and slammed him into the ground.

"Not bad, David, not bad at all." Derek pushed himself up and thrust a fist into David's abdomen. David growled and kicked Derek into the chest; he then punched Derek in the chest and grabbed his neck.

"Don't think you are going to defeat me, Venturi. You will never defeat me! I'm going to get Casey, she was my girlfriend first, not yours!"

"Shut the hell up! You cheated on Casey, you don't deserve her."

"What makes you think _you_ deserve her?" David's hand tightened around Derek's throat.

"Because…I would never do that to Casey!" Derek quickly lifted his leg up and kicked David off of him. He swiftly grabbed David off the ground and threw him into a nearby tree. David shook his head and charged for Derek.

"You will die here bastard!" David slammed his fist into Derek's abdomen and started to send a fist toward Derek's face. Derek quickly grabbed the fist and yelled in a rage as he slammed his fist into David's abdomen and then grabbed his throat. Then Derek lifted David into the air and tossed him three feet through the air. David landed near the edge of a Cliffside and pushed himself up.

"Come on Vitale, I thought you were better than that?"

"Damn you Venturi!" David charged toward Derek only to be kicked in the face. Derek grabbed David's shirt and lifted him up.

"You are _never_ to touch Casey again. You will not touch the mother of my children again. I'm going to make sure she doesn't have to deal with your goddamn face, do you hear me?"

"How are you going to do that?" David smirked and Derek frowned. Derek then slammed David into the ground and tossed him to the side.

"I'm going to do it just like that and I'm going to do it very easily as well." David pushed himself up and growled as he charged for Derek and kicked him in the side. He then threw a punch that Derek dodged and countered. Derek grabbed David's arm and pulled it behind him, he then twisted David's arm.

"Crap!" David lifted his leg and kicked back; Derek released David and jumped out of the way. He then lifted his leg and kicked David in the face. "Damn it!" David put his hand to his face and groaned; he brought his hand down and revealed blood flowing from his nose. He had a few cuts on his forehead and face. "You're dead!" David charged toward Derek once more and punched him in the chest.

"Good luck with that David." Derek brought his knee up and slammed it into David's abdomen.

"Ugh! Crap!" David held his abdomen and fell to the ground; he placed his palm on the ground and coughed up some blood. "Come on Venturi, finish me off, I know you want to." Derek crossed his arms and stepped in front of David.

"I choose not to."

"Screw you for your kind ways. I guess you don't mind that I raped Casey."

"You're trying to piss me off, it's working but I'm managing to remain calm. I refuse to hit someone while they're still on the ground."

"Sucks to be you Venturi!" David grabbed Derek's leg and pulled him to the ground. He then stood up and kicked Derek in the side once. He brought his leg up and started to bring it down in order to stomp on Derek; unfortunately his target had rolled out of the way and shot up behind him. Derek's back was toward David's back, he grabbed the back of David's shirt and sent him flying over his head and into the ground. David pulled himself up and glared at Derek with eyes burning with hatred, though they were not as intense as Derek's anger and hatred.

"Keep fighting me and you're going to wind up losing," Derek said as he squared off with David.

"Yeah, and if you keep fighting me, you'll die. However, you're going to die anyway. A Venturi must die now."

"Sorry, but a Vitale has already taken the life of a Venturi. However, I don't care about the war between the families right now!"

"Then what the hell do you care about!"

"I care about the life of the one I love and the ones that are inside of her. I care about the lives that you are threatening!"

"Ah, well too bad. I'll kill you and I'll finally get Casey."

"She will never care for you." David laughed and charged for Derek once more. Derek swiftly sidestepped David and let him charge toward him once more. At that, Derek sidestepped again and hit David in the middle of his back with the elbow.

"Screw you!" David swiftly leapt back and stood with his back facing Derek. "One day you are going to learn something good, and that day will be today. What you will learn is never to cross a Vitale, because if you do, you're going to get killed."

"What you're doing is playing with fire," Derek said as he crossed his arms.

"Yes, and when you play with fire, you're bound to get burned." David had his arms crossed over as well and he swiftly turned to the side as Derek stretched his arm toward David. Both men now stood with a gun in their hands, pointed at each other. "Not bad Venturi, you came prepared?"

"You could say that." Derek narrowed his eyes and David smirked. "So what's it going to be, are you going to be a sitting duck or are you going to try and shoot?"

"Hah, are you giving me first shot?"

"You can try to shoot, but you're using the arm that I just messed up a little while ago. Oh, and I'm going to disable that other arm if I have to."

"I'd like to see you try, Venturi!" David fired a shot that ripped through the sleeve of Derek's suit.

"That was a very poor shot. You didn't even hit _me_."

"I sure as hell came close to hitting you!"

"As true as that is, I think I'm a much better shot." Derek lowered the gun and fired a bullet into David's leg.

"Crap!"

"You notice that you're standing on the edge of the Cliffside, right?"

"What the hell does it matter?"

"Oh it doesn't matter at all." Derek slowly walked toward David with an angry look on his face. "The last person that attacked me and fell off of a building survived and came back to try and kill me."

"Yeah, and he failed, that bastard was an idiot anyway."

"Not so much, he was smart enough to let me escape."

"What?"

"Seriously, it was so easy to get out of the cell, and he left guns right in the room I was in. He was just that stupid." Derek aimed the gun toward David's hand and fired a shot through it.

"Ah Crap!" David dropped the gun and Derek swiftly fired a gunshot through David's throat.

"I don't want to hear your voice any longer. I've lost my patience and kindness with you; you can drown on your own damn blood for all I care." A gurgling sound escaped David as he clutched his throat. Blood flowed through David's fingers and down his arm as he glared at Derek. "I'm sorry, I just can't stand seeing people in this much pain, even if they are vile and criminally insane." Derek shifted his gun toward David and fired two bullets. One went through David's chest and the other through his head, the gurgling sound stopped and David's eyes went upward as he fell backwards off of the cliff. David walked to the edge of the Cliffside and looked downward. "I don't need this damn gun any longer." Derek threw the gun over the edge of the cliff as Casey and Edwin walked toward him. "Edwin, throw away your gun now so we can put this behind us all." Edwin nodded and threw away all of the weapons he had with him. Casey wrapped her arms around Derek's arms and tears ran down her cheeks as the wind blew past the three.

"I'm glad you're okay," Casey said quietly. "I want to go home now…" Derek looked at Casey and smiled at her.

"Let's get home; you may want to take a shower."

"What about you?"

"Yeah, I guess I do." Derek placed his finger under Casey's chin and kissed her on the lips.

"So good…" Derek looked at Casey and smirked.

"How would you like to take the shower together?" Casey chuckled lightly and rested her head on Derek's shoulder as she, Derek and Edwin walked away.

* * *

There's the chapter, David's finally dead, but the story is far from over.


	28. Proposals and a Journal

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 27 (Proposals and a Journal)

"It is still two days till Mom and George come back," Lizzie said quietly as she sat on the couch. Marti sat next to her and smiled softly.

"Its okay, Lizzie," Marti said as she clutched her stuffed doll. Lizzie looked over at Marti with a smile. "Would you like for me to get you a new stuffed animal to replace the one David broke?"

"No thank you Lizzie," Marti said quietly. She sat down in a chair and a tear fell down her cheek. "Lizzie, Grandpa wasn't ever close but I'm sad about his death." Lizzie stood up and walked over to Marti; she gave her a tight hug and patted her back.

"I know how you feel, he will be missed Marti. I'm sorry you guys lost your grandfather," Lizzie said quietly. "It is such a sad thing to lose your grandfather. You should still be happy about all the good memories you've had with him though."

"She's right," Dennis said with a nod. "Be happy about the good times and don't dwell on the sad. It may be difficult to cope with, but everyone must die some time."

"This is all because of some stupid fight," Lizzie said as she crossed her arms. "Why did this fight have to start in the first place? What is it with people and falling for people they can't have? My Great, Great Grandmother didn't even realize what was going on I bet. I wonder what would have happened had she known that these two were fighting over her."

"She did know about it. She wrote about the fights in her journal entries." Dennis pulled a small notebook from his shirt pocket, it was old and crinkled. Lizzie's eyes widened, it was the journal that belonged to Susie McDonald. Dennis opened it up and began to read out of it.

_"Tito Vitale, I never did like him, he was always such a cruel and violent man. He had this controlling feel to him. Anyway, I met up with Tony Venturi on this day; it was a great day at first. We talked and enjoyed each other's company, he brought out a ring and I think he was about to propose to me, it was a spontaneous proposal and I didn't know a lot about him. It was cute how he did it and I might have accepted had Tito Vitale not jumped into the clearing. A long fight erupted between them, what would have made a difference here? I don't know. Maybe if Tony had a gun it would have made a difference. Tito pulled out a gun after a long hand to hand fight and Tony stood there in shock. His body flinched when Tito pulled the trigger and because he jumped, the bullet dug into his arm. Tito then fired another shot and Tony fell to the ground and began bleeding from the leg. Well, an onlooker got help and Tony will be okay."_

"Is that all?" Lizzie asked.

"There is other stuff if you want to hear…you know, many entries were put in here from the generations before. That means that Susie McDonald and Vixen McDonald wrote in the book. Your grandfather did not, nor did I; we didn't see much point in writing a journal or anything." Dennis flipped through the pages and frowned. "There's a lot of sadness written in this book, Susie really loved Tony and Vixen loved the Venturi she knew, but they never got romantically involved or anything. They always speak of when they have kids and then they speak of when the Venturi is killed. It's always the same though, a fight breaks out and the Venturi is not prepared or he doesn't have anyone to back him up if he gets in trouble. Therefore in the end he always loses."

"Maybe it will be different for Derek." They heard the doorknob shake and everyone looked toward the front door to see it open. Derek, Casey and Edwin all stood in the doorway. Marti was the first to jump up and run to Derek, she quickly hugged Derek.

"You're alive!" Marti exclaimed. "You're all alive!"

"That's right, Smarti," Derek said as he lifted Marti into the air and smiled. He carried her to the couch and began to tickle her.

"No! That tickles!"

"So what happened to David?" Lizzie asked as she stood up. "Did you beat the bastard?"

"David's dead," Edwin said quietly. "He got what he needed." Lizzie walked over and hugged Edwin.

"I'm glad you're okay, Edwin."

"Uh…well it was Derek that did all the fighting…"

"Heh, I kind of figured that actually." Dennis stood up and looked at Derek with a smile.

"I think we've already had that talk, right?" Dennis asked. Derek looked at Dennis and raised his eyebrow.

"You know I will take care of Casey," Derek said with a nod. Dennis nodded and noticed the tear in Derek's shirt sleeve.

"Hey Derek, did David have a gun?"

"Yeah, and so did I. Edwin brought the gun to me." Dennis tapped his chin and smiled.

"That's what made the difference. There was another Venturi there as backup and he gave you to the gun, right?"

"Yes."

"So, I guess David fired a shot at you." Dennis pointed to the tear in Derek's sleeve, Casey was the one that responded.

"It was hectic," Casey said quickly. "He brought out the gun but at the same time, Derek brought his up and they stared at each other. David pulled the trigger but Derek didn't move an inch and the bullet just tore his sleeve."

"It's a good thing Edwin gave you the gun then, Derek."

"What do you mean?"

"The McDonald journal." Dennis held the journal up and smiled. "It details all the fights including the very first battle. It seems that it is very similar to your story."

"Ah…" Dennis set the book on the table and crossed his arms as Derek looked at Casey. Derek walked over to Casey and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Casey, I'm not going to let anything more happen to you. I love you Casey and I love these babies that are inside of you." Derek held out his hand and Edwin pulled a small black box from his pocket. He walked over to Derek and placed the box in Derek's hand. Casey watched as he opened the box and revealed a ring on velvet cushioning.

"W-What are you…Are you proposing to me?"

"Yes. I love you Casey, I intend to take care of you no matter what you are beautiful and special to me."

"I will do it. I will marry you, but what about George and Mom? What will this do to their relationship?"

"I don't know about that, we will have to find out what happens when that time comes. That time should be in the next two days when they return home from their vacation trip. There's another thing, we may want to explain to them everything that's been happening up to this point. They will be happy to see you unharmed."

"Yeah, they will be happy about that I suppose."

"I love you Casey."

"I love you too, Derek. I will definitely become Mrs. Casey Venturi!"

"I knew it!" Casey chuckled as Derek took her hand and slipped the ring on her finger. "This ring is the one that belonged to my great, great grandfather. He intended to propose to your great, great grandmother with this but never did."

"Really, so this ring was intended for a McDonald all the way back then?" Casey asked as she held her hand up and smiled. "This is beautiful, Derek, and it finally reached my finger!" Casey wrapped her arms around Derek's neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Casey leaned forward and kissed Derek on the lips. Casey looked into Derek's eyes and smiled. "We should probably clean the house." Dennis crossed his arms and smiled at the couple.

"You know, I'll probably get in the way," Dennis said quietly. "I'm going to go home now." Casey frowned and looked at her dad.

"You're going home already?"

"Yes. However, if you send me an invitation to the wedding, you'll see me then. I'm so happy that you found such a great man, Casey and I feel Derek will treat you well." Dennis hugged Casey and smiled. "Have a good rest."

"Thank you, Dad."

"Oh! I have to go finish a project for school!" Lizzie said quickly. "It's going to be overdue!"

"I need to take a quick shower," Edwin said with a sigh.

"Good thing we have two working showers in the house," Derek said quickly. "I need to get a shower done. Casey, would you like to take a shower with me?"

"Derek, there are young kids here," Casey said as she placed her hand on Derek's cheek.

"Okay, I get the point." Everyone went upstairs and Dennis left, Casey sat down on the couch and eyed the journal.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to write something…" Casey took a pen from the counter and opened the notebook. She read several pages with wide eyes before finding a fresh page and writing in it.

_"Casey McDonald. This really is an old notebook, but very valuable to my family as I can see. I also see that the Venturi's and the McDonald's go a long way back; they finally get together with me and Derek. Derek Venturi is the most wonderful guy, I've dated him for two years and I even carry his children inside of me. He proposed to me as well, of course I accepted, I don't know what I would do if I ever lost him! I almost did today though, apparently the Vitale's came back and I was kidnapped by David Vitale. Lizzie and Marti were there too, but things were different I guess. There are three Venturi's, Derek, Edwin and Marti. Well need I explain how Marti saved me once by cutting the wires around my wrists; at least I didn't have to be raped again. I met up with Edwin and I guess he had a plan to get Lizzie and Marti out of their captivity."_

_"I got taken captive again and thrown back into the cell; Marti freed me again and helped free Edwin and Lizzie from their bounds. Then Edwin had this great plan which involved Marti leading me and Lizzie to safety. Once out, we met up with Edwin who had Dad take Marti and Lizzie home. He took me to the park where I guess it all started. This was the most hectic and scary time of my life. I can't tell you how many times my heart nearly stopped and everything froze when I thought I was about to lose Derek!"_

_"Derek Venturi and David Vitale fought in the park, it was a long hand to hand combat, just like Susie McDonald explained on the first page. There were several moments when it looked like the fight would be in either person's favor and at one moment, I thought it was going to be in David's favor but I had to keep trusting that Derek would win. Then it happened, the moment that Susie explains would have replayed itself I'm guessing, if Edwin hadn't given Derek the gun. David pulled out a gun and aimed it for Derek, but he pulled a gun out as well and aimed it at David. David fired but did not hit Derek! Then Derek shot at David and eventually David fell over the Cliffside. Derek Venturi is my hero, he always has been and he always will be. Apparently this is the first time that one his family and one of my family have been so deeply in love with one another. I also guess this is the first time a McDonald's been pregnant with the child of a Venturi. I could write forever about the reasons why I love Derek but there are so many reasons. Maybe I can list many in one sentence. Derek Venturi is my wonderful, calm, gentle, caring, hero and is a great man. Given the way this journal is written about the wars and whatnot of the Venturi's and the Vitale's over the McDonalds, I'll make this the last words written by one of the McDonalds. I don't think another McDonald will have to write in this journal anyway. Mrs. Casey McDonald-Venturi."_ Casey closed the journal and smiled as she stood up, she then went upstairs and into her room.

* * *

There's the chapter, stick around for the next


	29. Just Relaxing

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 28 (Just Relaxing)

"So what are we going to tell them?" Casey asked as she and Derek sat on the couch the next morning. Derek had his arm draped over Casey's shoulders and was deep in thought.

"Well I suppose we could just tell them the truth," Derek said. "After all, they're going to know that the war happened and it's over now. After all, my dad was shot."

"Yeah, and the ambulances took away all the bodies…there were oddly enough, not that many dead people around."

"Most of the dead were the ones killed by my grandfather and your father. Grandpa was in the military and he knew how to fight, he's seen quite a few dead in his day, so he's a hardened type of fighter. Edwin had me concerned, he usually is a soft kind of person, but he will get defensive."

"That's probably why most if not all of the one hundred men in that mansion was still alive. He must have called the ambulances over while he was in there. Even Max is alive…"

"That's fine by me." Derek looked over at Casey and smiled softly. "As long as he doesn't hurt you again, I'm happy. I don't want to have to kill another person as long as I live, but if it's to protect you…"

"Then you will, I understand, Derek. I love that you would fight to protect me."

"I'd fight for everything you are, Casey." Casey placed her hand on the side of Derek's face and smiled at him. She then leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

"Your kisses are better than ever, Derek." Derek smirked and pointed to his lips.

"These haven't lips haven't been graced by your lips for a long time, so what you're getting there is a lot of relief and love."

"You know, I was actually worried about Marti…" Derek nodded and let out a sigh.

"She's such a soft-hearted girl. She should and would never fight, if she tried to fight, it wouldn't be very good. She is just not a fighter; I would worry about her in anything. However, we do not need to worry about her fighting again. We don't have to worry about Edwin doing any more shooting; you and your sister will also not have to worry about being taken away again."

"Yeah, what is there to worry about?"

"Not much, and thankfully the media kept away from us so we don't have them to worry about."

"Nobody saw your fighting either…"

"True, the mansion was in a secluded place, the warehouse was kind of secluded and the park…I had everyone leave the park."

"How did you go about doing that?"

"It was late; there were only about three people in the park, seeing as how it's a small park. All I had to do was tell them that I saw the downtown gang in the park."

"What? You told them the Los Carnies were in the park?"

"Yeah and that sent them running."

"That gang _never_ comes near here!"

"You're right, they don't. Those people thought otherwise, they must have been travelers."

"Yeah…and why did you mention that gang, they're kind of weak."

"Yeah, they don't know how to fight." Derek crossed his arms and chuckled. The gang of the Los Carnies was all but disbanded, they're leader was just a weak little guy and there were about three other members of it. They only went around and hung out with each other; they were hardly the fighting type and were the safest gang to approach. "Which, is why I mentioned them, they will never retaliate or anything. It's true though that a mafia member was coming and I took care of that threat."

"I still think that was far too dangerous. I'm guessing you and Edwin had it all planned out?"

"Yes, Edwin called me while he was in the mansion and he told me about the plan he had in mind. He wanted me to meet him in the park and he would be sure to have you with him, he also asked for Mr. McDonald to come and pick up both Lizzie and Marti. He didn't want either girl to see such bloodshed, hell; he didn't even enjoy having to fight off so many people. He said he was going to find David and he was going to lure him to the park, I'm guessing he did that since David showed up."

"Edwin really researched and thought it all out I guess."

"He's a smart kid. Not as smart as I am, but still smart enough." Derek smirked and Casey let out a small laugh. "What? I'm smart."

"Yes you are smart, but that was just such a big ego boost."

"Yet you love me anyway."

"Yes I do, Derek." Casey rested her hand on Derek's chest and then rested her head on Derek's shoulder area. "You seem much better off now than you did before."

"Yeah, that's definitely true."

"So, Edwin didn't have any bullets in him?"

"No, he said he just got grazed in the arm, a cut, but the bullet did not enter into his arm. How he managed to make it through that mansion without getting worse wounds…well I guess he's just stealthy like that."

"Yeah…"

"He would make a great addition to the military when the time comes. That's if he wants to enroll in it, but he's seen so much bloodshed yesterday that I don't know if he'll ever want to go into the military again."

"Did he ever think he'd want to?"

"He thought of it before."

"I see…I never saw anything other than David's death and Max getting shot in the back."

"Edwin and I didn't want any of you girls to see such bloodshed. I know Marti would have nightmares so it was best that Edwin and I got her out without actually having to see any blood be spilled. Lizzie is innocent, she didn't deserve to see anything and I wanted to see you more than anything. So that's why the only one you saw, or should have seen…Max was unexpected. David's death was the only one that you saw."

"Yeah, but Max didn't die and I guess that's a good thing."

"I don't know that I agree with the police's method used on him though. Since he was involved in our war, he was pardoned and not charged for his crimes. However, since he was an outsider and not part of either family, he's now known as a kidnapper and someone who tried to kill another person."

"Yeah, too bad about that, I mean how will he show his face around school?"

"That is a very good question, Casey. If I knew the answer to that, I could easily tell you."

"Well, what if you tried befriending him?"

"That may be easier said than done." Casey nodded slightly and looked over as the phone started to ring. She picked it up and answered.

"Hello, this is the Venturi-McDonald residence, who is calling?"

"Casey!" Nora exclaimed. "Oh thank god, I thought something might have happened!"

"Uh…"

"George was shot before, but he is fine now."

"Mom, can you guys get here sooner than another day?"

"No, I'm afraid we can't."

"Mom, Mr. Venturi…Derek's grandfather has died."

"I know...George was notified of that just a few hours ago. The funeral is going to be set in a few days and we're putting off the wedding for the funeral."

"You're putting off the wedding, because of a funeral?"

"Yes, the funeral is set on the same day and I can't move the funeral to another day and George can't either. We'll have to postpone the wedding for now." Casey sat up straight and looked over to Derek who raised an eyebrow.

"This should be a happy time, not a sad time…"

"Casey, has anything else happened over there? We were also informed that Georgia Vitale had been shot as well and she murdered her husband. We also learned that her son was dead too, but the officers that contacted us didn't tell us anything else. Now George's family history is an awkward one, Casey…there is some sort of connection between the families or something."

"I'd rather not worry you about anything right now…"

"So nothing bad happened?"

"I never said that. However, something really good did happen." Casey held her hand in front of her and smiled as she saw the ring on her finger. "My boyfriend of two years has actually proposed to me! He proposed to me!"

"That's amazing! You're both eighteen, so it's a good age. I imagine you two will be going to college, will your boyfriend be going?"

"Yes. I'm hoping to go as well mom. Anyway, I'll explain all that when you two get here." Casey's voice lowered to a near mumble. "Among other things, like Derek coming close to death."

"What was that dear?"

"Nothing mom, hey, I'm going to let you go because we all have to go to school. We hope to see you really soon, love you!"

"I love you too." Casey hung up the phone and smiled at Derek, he was looking at her with a smirk on his face.

"I heard that, now I never came close to death."

"A girl has her worries and fears when it comes to her boyfriend. In my mind every hit you suffered was tragic for me." Derek placed his finger under Casey's chin and smiled back at her.

"Casey, don't worry anymore. I'm here, I'm alive and so are Edwin, Marti and Lizzie. There is no more need to fear for anything, David cannot come back."

"That's true, but what about Max?"

"He is weak. He could always try to attack with verbal insults, but I don't think he has the guts to attack with weapons again."

"Why?"

"David forced him to use weapons, he didn't seem too thrilled to have a gun pointed at somebody. Look, Casey, I can understand your fear. Just don't be afraid, try not to be afraid anymore, you're safe and we're all together, that is all that matters right now."

"Yeah, you're right…That and I'm going to be having children out of all this, so I'm happy. The only thing that we have to do is find a way to tell Mom and George about the babies and all of that." Derek nodded and kissed Casey's lips.

"I think they'll be fine with it, but we'll just have to see their reaction."

* * *

There's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed it


	30. Twins Gender and a New Car

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

A/N: Yes, the Italian mafia part of the story is over with David's death. We're back to the normal but still fun scheme of things.

* * *

Chapter 29 (The Twins Gender and a New Car)

"Lizzie, Marti, Edwin, you're coming with us," Casey said from downstairs. She and Derek were going shopping, that would be after they went to the gynecologist and figured out the gender of the baby.

"Ah, do _I_ have to go?" Edwin asked as he walked down the stairs. Marti squealed with joy as she ran down the stairs and Lizzie patted Edwin on the back as she passed him.

"Certainly," Derek said as he rubbed his chin. "I can't be the only guy surrounded by girls." Casey smirked and kissed Derek on the cheek. Edwin let out a small sigh and shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine…Is there anything in it for me though?" Derek patted Edwin on the back and smirked.

"The store we will be going to, it has a lot of girls there." Edwin raised his eyebrow and smirked, that was enough for him. He started to walk toward the door and Casey leaned in toward Derek.

"Do you think we should tell him that he'll be helping us look for baby clothes?" Casey asked in a low whisper. "Baby stuff…the only girls that will be there are pregnant women like me."

"Well, if it gets him moving, I'm fine with it." Derek looked over at Edwin who was tapping his foot by the door. "Hey Edwin, you're certainly not afraid of being surrounded by girls, right? You have to be masculine!"

"Oh, and you're masculine," Edwin said with a smirk. "You're very big and masculine, Mr. Climbs onto furniture when in the presence of a mouse!"

"Hey, that was one time!" Casey chuckled and tapped Derek's nose.

"You're so cute when you're afraid of a harmless, little mouse," Casey stated.

"I'm still masculine…" Derek looked to Casey and pouted his lip. She laughed and kissed Derek.

"Yes you are. You're my big masculine hero."

"Hey, not to intrude or anything," Marti said quickly. "When is your doctor's appointment?"

"Ah! We'll be late!" Everybody rushed out the door; Derek locked it and hurried to the car.

"You know, when you get that new car, you'll have to explain it to dad," Edwin stated.

"Yeah, I know," Derek said as he started the car and backed out. "There will be a _lot_ of explaining to do when Dad and Nora return home." Edwin nodded his head as Derek drove toward the hospital. They parked the car and all exited the vehicle.

"You know, I didn't realize it, but it's really a beautiful day today," Casey said as she ran her hand through her hair. "I mean it is really a great day."

"Yeah, one of the best days I've seen in a long time," Lizzie stated. Everyone nodded their heads and took a moment to breathe in the clean air. They went into the hospital and met up with Dr. Williams.

"So you're here to find out the gender of those two twins inside of you," Dr. Williams said as he glanced to his chart and back at Casey. "So, nothing else happened to you that might cause miscarriage?"

"That is right," Casey said. "Nothing that would cause a miscarriage."

"Okay, good, let's run a few tests and we'll determine the babies. Is there any idea?"

"I _know _they're girls," Derek said with a nod. Casey chuckled and shook her head.

"You don't even know what they'll be," Casey said with a light tap on Derek's nose. "I think they'll be strong boys, just like their father."

"I agree with Casey," Lizzie said as she crossed her arms. "They'll be boys."

"Nope, they're going to be girls," Derek said as he closed his eyes and smiled.

"I'm with Derek on this one," Edwin said. "I'm betting they'll be girls."

"I think they're going to be boys," Lizzie said quickly. "One boy and one girl!"

"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side," Derek said with a chuckle. "Okay, this is the classic boys against girls; losing team has to cook supper for the winners for a full week!"

"Okay," Casey said with a chuckle. "I can't wait to taste all the fancy food that you and Edwin are going to whip up!"

"I won't be doing the cooking," Derek said with a smirk. "I know they're girls without a doubt, call it being a father." Casey chuckled as she followed Dr. Williams into a room.

"How do you know it's going to be a girl?" Edwin asked.

"I call it intuition."

"I see…" Everyone waited for a long time until Casey and Dr. Williams walked out. Derek stood up and Casey shot him a smirk.

"Well Derek, be happy," Casey said as she kissed Derek's lips. "You're going to be the proud father of two gorgeous baby daughters."

"Hah, I knew it!" Derek kissed Casey and grinned. "You know what I'm thinking of for tonight? Roast chicken sounds really nice."

"I'll just have to get that recipe book out; I was really hoping you could make some of your delicious roast duck for us. I guess that'll have to wait."

"Eh, I can always make roast duck, in fact you girls could just make lunch and I can make dinner."

"I like that plan almost as much as I love your cooking."

"Your cooking is pretty good, Casey."

"Yeah, but you're better. Take it as a good compliment; guys don't get those types of compliments that often."

"Well not all guys are great chefs."

"That's true. Come on, let's go do some shopping."

**-NEW SCENE-**

"Okay, we really need a family car," Casey said as the group walked through the car dealership. They were looking for a good car that wasn't too pricy and could hold a family as well as being safe.

"Okay, so convertibles are out of the question," Edwin said with a sigh. "That and other fast cars are a big no on the list."

"I think the car that dad drives is fast," Derek said with a chuckle. "The one Nora brought from her home is decent as well. Here's what I think we should look at…maybe a nice SUV."

"It's definitely one that will fit all of us in," Lizzie said with a nod. George had a four door car that seated four people, Nora had the same type of car, the one that Derek had was actually a sports car style. None of them seated over four people, so they would have to crunch together in order to drive somewhere. A van would actually seat eight people and give it a lot of space. Marti ran over to a medium sized red SUV and grinned.

"I like this one!" Marti exclaimed. Everyone walked over to the car; Derek smiled and looked at the price tag.

"Twenty five thousand, that's not a bad price for a 2007 Mercury Mountaineer," Derek stated. Casey walked around the car and looked in the windows.

"Oh, it has a beautiful interior," Casey said as she eyed the inside of the car. Edwin walked to the back of the car and looked in the back window.

"It looks like it could hold quite a bit of space," Edwin stated. A car dealer walked up to the group and smiled. Derek grinned, car dealers were fun, they were the sharks of all sharks.

"So, you're interested in this car, I see," The man said with a nod. "It's a beautiful 2007 Mercury Mountaineer; we just got it in today!"

"Well, I like it," Casey said with a nod. "Do those seats move at all?"

"Yes, you can move the seats in the back down and add extra space for luggage if you have to. It is one of our safest cars, and it has good speed on it too!"

"What do you think Edwin?" Derek asked. "Casey likes it and Marti likes it."

"I like it," Edwin responded. Lizzie nodded her head and said the same. Derek crossed his arms and smirked.

"I'll give you seventeen thousand for the car," Derek said.

"Seventeen, the car is worth twenty five thousand, but I'll lower it to twenty three," The dealer stated.

"I'll give you eighteen thousand."

"I'll lower it to twenty two thousand.

"Nineteen thousand and I won't go any higher."

"Hmm, you're getting one damn good car, I like you buddy; your wife seems like a nice lady too. Your youngest seems cute as well. I'll tell you what; I'll sell it to you for eighteen thousand and fifty."

"Then it's sold, it's a pleasure doing business with you!" Derek shook the man's hand and the group walked with him to his office. They all sat as the man pulled out some paperwork and files.

"I'll just need you to read these forms, sign them, etcetera and I'll hand you the key to the beautiful car!" Derek nodded and read all the forms he needed and signed the ones that needed his signature. Soon all the work was done and the group was standing outside their new car. Casey had found the car they were driving to the dealership and parked it in front.

"Okay, who's riding in this car with Derek?" Casey asked as she got out. She smiled and Derek let out a sigh.

"Yeah, I'll go in the older car."

"I'll ride with Derek!" Marti said quickly. "I don't want Derek to be lonely." Derek smiled and rubbed Marti's head.

"Thank you Marti, I won't be lonely now. Once we get the cars home, we can all ride together in the van and go get some shopping done."

"Yeah, you and Casey are still buying those baby things," Edwin said with a sigh. "Where are you going to put them though?"

"Our house obviously." Edwin shrugged as he, Lizzie and Casey got into the van. Derek and Marti got into the car and started it up. With that they all drove back home.

* * *

Aw how cute, twin girls and a new car. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Stick around for the next!


	31. The Last Vitale's Reconciliation

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 30 (The Last Vitale's Reconciliation)

The group all parked the van next to the curb and stood outside the car as Derek went inside for one minute and came out. "Okay Casey, you wanted a few pictures next to that car, you got them."

"Well it is a good day to take the pictures," Casey said with a smile.

"You do look beautiful, and today is a beautiful day. As beautiful as that car is, let's have some of your beauty rub off on it." Casey smiled and stood next to the car, she lifted her hand in the air and pointed another hand at the car, very much like they do on the game shows that announce the prizes.

"It's a new car!" Casey said, the others laughed as Derek flashed a photo.

"Okay, next up is Lizzie." Lizzie ran next to the car where Casey stood and did a pose. A fly flew close to her nose so when Derek flashed the picture, she looked cross-eyed.

"Uh, did that come out good?" Lizzie took the digital camera and looked at the picture, she giggled slightly and handed the camera back to Derek. "It's perfect!" Edwin shook his head and sighed as he walked over to the car. He ran his fingers through his hair and smiled at the camera as he placed is thumbs upwards. His pose was very much like the Fonz from Happy Days.

"Good posing, Edwin!"

"Thanks bro, hey Marti, you're up!" Edwin said quickly. Marti ran beside the car and threw her hands into the air. Derek flashed the photo and smiled.

"You're a natural, Smarti!"

"Thanks Derek!" Casey took the camera from Derek and smiled.

"Now you need to have your photo taken. Just remember, look at the _camera_, don't look at anything below that." Derek smirked and stood next to the car.

"Why? Your smile is below that, I love looking at that."

"Okay, I'll rephrase that one, smart guy. Don't look at anything below my chin or neck."

"Oh…" Derek's head lowered. "Oops, I snuck a peek!"

"Derek!" Casey laughed and Derek crossed his arms and smirked. Casey took a photo and handed the camera to Lizzie. "Take our photo, please."

"Okay," Lizzie responded. Casey walked over to Derek and when she got there, Derek's eyes went wide to her touch. "Ew! Casey, did you have to grab him there!" Edwin covered Marti's eyes and sighed as Casey chuckled. She quickly wrapped her arms around Derek's neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist. They brought their lips together and shared a kiss, at that moment, Lizzie snapped the camera. "Okay guys, you can stop making out now!" Derek and Casey chuckled and took the camera from Lizzie's hand.

"You and Edwin are next," Derek said quickly.

"Okay…" Lizzie and Edwin walked over to the car. Edwin placed his arm over Lizzie's shoulder and gave one thumbs up and Lizzie smiled at the camera. Next, Marti went into the picture with Edwin and Lizzie. After that, Derek and Casey went back to the car, Derek picked up Marti and the three smiled at the camera.

"I think the photos look great so far," Derek said as he looked at the digital images. "Well, let's all go for a ride." Derek got in the drivers seat, Casey got in the front passenger seat and the others sat in the middle seats. "Oh, and we have a few places we're looking at." Edwin raised his eyebrow and looked over at Derek.

"What do you mean?" Edwin asked.

"A new house."

"Huh?"

"We figure that when the children are born, Mom and George are going to want us to get our own place," Casey responded. "It's only right to do so for them. Also, we're getting a place closest to the college that we are going to and close to where Mom and George will live."

"We won't settle on the place until we talk to them though," Derek said as he drove through the streets. "We're going to choose a place and then we will buy it after speaking with dad and Nora.

"We've narrowed the homes to three choices, and we brought you three along to help us decide." Casey turned and smiled at the others, they all smiled back and let out some sighs.

"So, you'll be moving away?" Marti asked quietly.

"We won't be moving far away," Derek said as he rounded a corner. "We'll be very close, within walking distance."

"Oh, well that's better!" Derek smiled and Casey gave off a smile as well. She placed her hand on Derek's leg and rubbed it, she then moved upward and Derek then placed his hand on Casey's arm.

"No giving the driver a turn on while he's driving," Derek whispered. Edwin was the closest and he heard what Derek said.

"Ah man!" Edwin placed his hands over his ears and groaned. "Derek!" Derek chuckled and parked the car in front of house number one. They got out of the car and met with the realtor, they called the realtor just before leaving. It was the same realtor for all three homes, the realtor was a woman named Alice Daniels. The group exited the vehicle and walked over to Alice.

"Good afternoon," Alice said with a smile. "Let's go inside the home, I think you'll enjoy this house." The group all nodded and followed Alice into the one story home. "This house as you know is one hundred and fifty grand. It has a pool out back…"

"It has a pool!" Edwin said quickly. Derek and Casey chuckled as Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti ran out to the back. There was a large pool; it was shaped almost like the head of Mickey Mouse.

"There's a hot tub next to the pool," Lizzie said quietly. Alice walked up and nodded.

"It looks like a mouse head," Alice said. "You'll notice one of the 'ears' is a hot tub and the other 'ear' is a kiddy pool. The big 'head' part of the mouse is deepest in the middle, almost five feet. The rest of the pool is about three to four and a half feet."

"I like to swim," Marti said quickly.

"Let's go see the kitchen area now," Derek said as he patted Marti's shoulder. Everyone walked into the kitchen; it was a nice sized kitchen. A counter was stretched from the wall and it arched toward the center of the room. There was white tile on the floor and a black stove top with a black oven.

"Damn, it looks like a nice kitchen area," Edwin said as he looked around. The group all nodded their heads and walked into the living room, they loved the peach carpeting and the space that was in the room. It went well with the white walls. They followed the carpet into the hallway and spotted the first room.

"This looks like a kid's bedroom," Lizzie stated.

"There are four bedrooms in total," Alice said as she crossed her arms and smiled. "There is one master bedroom, two children's rooms and one guest bedroom."

"Sweet, if the children's rooms are medium sized like this, then they get some excellent space."

"The master bedroom is our largest bedroom…" The group walked into the furthest room in the hallway and peered inside. The lady was right, the master bedroom was large, it made for comfortable living.

"Oh by the way, I have some great news for you," Alice said with a smile. Derek raised his eyebrow and looked over to Alice.

"Yes?"

"A kind man came and offered to pay for you when you buy the home."

"Huh?" Alice looked out the window and saw a car drive next to the van. "He's here, we should go out and talk to him."

"Okay." They followed Alice out of the house and spotted an elderly man stepping out of the car. The man smiled at the group. He had a full head of hair; it was silver and slightly combed back. The man had a cane that he held in his right hand. The man walked over to Derek and shook his hand.

"Derek Venturi, I assume."

"Yes." The man sighed and closed his eyes.

"It's truly a pleasure to meet you, I am Tonio…"

"It's nice to meet you, Tonio. I'm not entirely sure who you are or why you'd be willing to pay."

"I am the last of my family; this is my reconciliation for my family's sins. You see, my name is really Tonio Vitale."

"What!" Edwin, Lizzie and Marti exclaimed. Edwin and Marti quickly stepped in front of Casey and Lizzie. Tonio put his hands up defensively.

"Wait, I'm not planning to attack or anything. I'm an old man who needs to reconcile with the Venturi family. I have learned of my wife's death and my grandson's death. My wife also killed my son in law, this war has gone on too long and it's finally over. However, I don't think it's over until the Vitale family can do something good for both the Venturi's and the McDonald family. This is how I wish to go about it; you will not spend a dime when buying the home you will live in." Derek and Casey looked at each other and then back at Tonio.

"Well, I appreciate that…" Tonio pointed to the red van.

"Is that a new car?"

"Yes."

"How much did you spend on it?"

"Eighteen thousand…" Tonio nodded and pulled a checkbook and pen from his jacket. He began writing and handed the check to Derek. "Sir, this is twenty thousand, again I appreciate this but…"

"No, take it. It is the best thing I can do for the Venturi family. Please, accept this. Oh and also…" Tonio wrote another check and handed it to Derek. Derek looked at the check and his eyes went wide.

"Holy crap! What are you doing this for?!" Casey looked at the check and paled slightly, it was for ten million dollars, from the Vitale family to the Venturi family.

"That should be enough to compensate you for some time."

"Sir, don't get us wrong, we thank you but we don't want to dry up your funds."

"You won't be, I have much more in there, I have at least fifty million in my savings. I will find something to do with the rest when I die. That should not be much longer anyway. Please, accept it." Derek looked at Casey and she crossed her arms.

"Should we really take this?" Casey asked.

"He's offering it," Derek said quietly. Derek looked to Tonio and sighed. "If it would make you feel better…"

"It would make me feel that we Vitale's have been forgiven. The nation won't forgive us and they would desire to squander the remaining funds in the Vitale's banks."

"If that is the way you feel, then we will accept it. Thank you for your generosity." Tonio smiled and walked back to his car. Derek blinked and sighed as he took out a checkbook and put the two checks into the checkbook. "Casey, do you like the house we just saw…"

"Yes."

"Do you want that home?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, let's go back now, come on guys." Derek walked to the van and the others slowly followed behind. Everyone was shocked at what had just happened. They got in the car and drove home in silence.

* * *

Well, I bet none of you saw that coming up! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, stick around for the next.


	32. Derek and Max: Final Round

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 31 (Derek and Max; Final Round)

They parked the van in the garage and walked out. "What are we going to do with this money?" Derek asked as they walked onto the front lawn. "Do you feel guilty about taking the money?"

"I don't know that I feel guilty, just a little surprised," Casey said quietly. "I think that man really wanted to reconcile with us, it's kind of sad though, he doesn't really have anyone left in his family. He lost his daughter and his grandson. I'm at least glad he didn't put his entire savings on us. That would have been too much to handle."

"Derek, how many dolls can you buy me now?" Marti asked with a smile. Derek chuckled and looked down at Marti.

"I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with the money," Derek said quietly. "It'd probably be a good idea to put it in the bank and the stock market."

"At least it's enough to support us," Casey said as she crossed her arms. "It gives us enough money that you could work during college if you wanted to…"

"No, I'm still going to work; I need to support my own family."

"You know, if you work while we are in college, I think I shouldn't work."

"Why?"

"Someone has to take care of the kids. We'll both be taking courses and outside of the college courses you working will only cause you to have a few mere hours during the day to be with the kids."

"If you think that would be best, then I'll agree with your decision. The only question is what will we tell Dad and Nora?"

"That is a very good question. It may wind up being spontaneous for all we know. I mean, we need to think of a good way to tell them and it's going to be difficult. We may as well just say 'Hello I'm pregnant' and work our way from there."

"That explains one thing. Does it explain why we told them our two year long boyfriend and girlfriend were two other people?"

"Good point…everyone else took it easily though." Edwin crossed his arms and chuckled.

"We didn't take it _that_ easily," Edwin said. "We were just distracted by something else that we didn't react as strongly. You two freak me out though." Derek smirked and glanced over at Edwin.

"What do you mean?"

"Your actions are just a bit loopy."

"Actions, do you mean actions like these?" Derek wrapped his arms around Casey's waist and pulled her toward him. He then brought his lips to hers and the two kissed with intense fury and passion.

"Making out isn't creepy," Lizzie said quietly. "Okay…maybe just a little." Lizzie and Edwin raised their eyebrows when they heard Casey make a slight moaning sound. They watched as Casey's hands tightly grabbed the back of Derek's shirt, Derek lowered his hands and rubbed her butt.

"Aw man!" Edwin exclaimed as he slapped his forehead. "_That's_ what I'm talking about!"

"Get a room!' Lizzie exclaimed. "Come on, this is public displays of affection, too much!"

"Marti…run, run as fast as you can."

"Edwin, you had to open your big mouth!" Lizzie slapped the back of Edwin's head.

"How was I supposed know they'd start making out on the front lawn!" Marti tapped Edwin's shoulder and smiled.

"Technically they're not on the lawn," Marti said.

"Same difference, they're standing on the front lawn and they are making out." Edwin watched as Casey pushed Derek to the ground, he let out a groan and rubbed his forehead. "Okay fine, now they're _literally_ on the lawn." Lizzie blinked and looked over at Edwin.

"You know, I think they have the key to the house," Lizzie said quietly.

"What is she moaning for?" Marti asked. "Does she have a headache or something?"

"No," Edwin said as he slowly shook his head. "I don't want to interrupt…but we do have to get inside…Girls, come with me." Edwin, Lizzie and Marti walked around the house and looked at the second floor. "I guess Derek left his window open."

"Personally, I thought it was closed," Lizzie said as she looked up. "Oh well, let's go inside." Lizzie started to climb the ladder, Marti followed and Edwin was last. They entered Derek's room and exited the room. "Do you think we should go get them?"

"Yes, I think they need to get off the lawn." Edwin, Lizzie and Marti walked downstairs to see Casey and Derek standing in the living room.

"You thought we couldn't control ourselves," Derek said with a smirk.

"Sexual frustration is something to look out for though," Casey said with a nod.

"Wait…you got in through my window?" Derek raised his eyebrow and Edwin nodded. "I left my window closed, I thought I locked it. Damn it, if someone's in this house again!" A crash was heard from the kitchen and everyone ran into the room. They saw Max standing over a broken plate. Derek narrowed his eyes and grabbed Max's shoulder, he turned Max around and punched him in the face. He dragged Max over to the couch and tossed the guy onto the sofa.

"I wonder what he was doing here..."

"I don't know…Edwin call the police." Edwin nodded and picked up the phone. Max woke up and quickly sat up.

"Oh, you've finally come home," Max said with a chuckle.

"Yes, breaking and entering can get you a few years," Derek said as he crossed his arms. "I can also file against you for attempted murder and kidnapping even. How do you think you'd fare against the witness accounts from those on top of that diner as well as what happened the night you managed to capture me? Tell me, how many years do you think you'd get?"

"Uh…a few years for two counts of attempted murder."

"You'd also get some charges for being David's accomplice. Let's add breaking and entering to the list. Why are you here, Max?"

"Truthfully, I was here to…uh…I got hungry."

"Like hell you did, eat at your own house." Max looked at the door as sirens sounded from down the street. The sirens stopped and soon police were entering the home. Max then got brave and pulled a knife from his pocket, he swiftly jabbed Derek in the abdomen and Derek grabbed Max's arms. "D-Damn you." Casey let out a gasp and Marti stepped back in fear. Derek pulled back and pushed the knife from Max's hands. "You know, I'm a _little_ tired of getting shot at, stabbed, and whatever else there is. So if you have _any_ other methods of pain go ahead and use it, because it's the _last_ one you'll use!" Derek quickly punched Max in the abdomen.

"Sorry for it, Derek, but I'm going to finish David's job."

"So you still choose to be David's puppet, even though he's dead now?" Derek growled and kicked Max in the chest.

"Just remember who the one that came closest to killing you was!"

"Let's go ahead and have our final round…You think you're going to win it this time?"

"Heh, you're actually accepting that challenge from me?"

"Sure…you seem like you want to fight, so let's fight. However I don't want to mess up my dad's carpet, let's move this outside." Max and Derek swiftly charged outside.

"Derek!" Casey exclaimed as she held her arm out.

"Come on!" Edwin said quickly as everyone ran outside to find Max and Derek standing in the front yard.

"That knife didn't cut me very deeply at all," Derek said with a smirk. "It's definitely not something to worry about going to the hospital over."

"Oh when I'm finished with you, you'll _want_ to go to a hospital. When I'm done with you, you'll be visiting the coroner, not the doctor!" Casey ran over to an officer and started to shout.

"Aren't you going to do something!" Casey exclaimed. The officer sighed and shook his head.

"We would stop them, but it is best for us not to get involved." Derek looked over and pointed at the officer.

"One day, I'm going to be the police chief and train all the officers to stop a fight that's ongoing. However, don't stop this battle, this is between me and this guy."

"You're going to regret your choice of words, Derek," Max said as he charged toward Derek. Derek sidestepped Max and sent his fist crashing into Max's back.

"Remember, David was difficult enough and I fought him after my fight with you, I think I've had enough practice to fight you and not wind up in the same condition as I did then." Derek grabbed the back of Max's shirt and sent him into a tree.

"Damn you!" Max charged for Derek and brought his knife toward Derek. Derek shifted his head to the side and brought his knee into Max's abdomen.

"Don't ever break into my family's house again, Max!"

"I'll do whatever the hell I want to do." Max slashed at Derek once more and missed. He charged toward Derek and Derek swiftly sidestepped.

"I'll just put some bandages on this wound, try not to hurt yourself, Max." Max put his hands on his knees and started to pant. Casey ran up to Derek and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Please stop this," Casey said quickly. Derek looked at Casey and into her eyes, his eyes softened when they met hers. He could tell she wanted the fighting to end, she had enough of the fighting and was concerned, especially when Max appeared first on that building. "Please, I don't want you to get hurt again, I don't want any more bloodshed." Casey looked down and gingerly touched the wound that Derek had, tears were coming from her eyes and Derek let out a sigh.

"Max, we're done here."

"What!" Max exclaimed.

"We're done, no more fighting, no more bloodshed." Derek looked over at the officer and crossed his arms. "You can arrest him now, I don't think he will be getting away." The officer nodded and walked toward Max with a pair of handcuffs.

"You're not getting out of this that easily!"

"I'm not going to let Casey worry anymore. I won't allow it, I also know that you are no killer. You're just a puppet that was controlled by a big person, a puppeteer. Now that person is gone, you have a chance to do things the right way, I won't press charges against you this time, Max. Of course I expect you to never again cross my path with evil intentions."

"How could you even bother to show _me_ mercy?" Max's mouth hung open as the police officer handcuffed him. "Why would you do it? After all that I have done!"

"I already mentioned that you are no killer." Derek wrapped his arm around Casey's waist and closed his eyes. "Let's go back inside." Derek turned around and walked with Casey, Edwin, Lizzie and Marti back into the building as the officer placed Max into the police car.

* * *

There's the chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. The next will be up soon.


	33. Edwin and Lizzie Connect

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 32 (Edwin and Lizzie Connect)

Later that night, Casey was lying in her bed. She was tired and a little upset that Derek had gotten into a fight with Max in the first place. She knew she shouldn't have been upset but she couldn't help but to worry about Derek. Casey looked over and heard a soft knock on the door. "I'm sleeping!"

"No you're not," Derek said from behind the door. Derek opened the door and light from the hallway bathed Casey. Derek flipped on a light switch and closed the door. He pulled a rose from behind him and walked toward Casey. "I get the feeling I should tell you that I am sorry."

"Why? There isn't any reason for you to apologize." Derek sat on the edge of Casey's bed and smirked.

"I didn't have to get into that fight with Max and I did anyway. I knew you wouldn't want that fight but I did it anyway. It wasn't exactly a necessary fight either, but I was a bit frustrated with him, and I'm sorry for it." Casey sat up in her bed and looked at Derek.

"It's really not your fault, I think anyone would have wanted to attack him and anyone would have done it. It's just, I was so afraid of what would happen to you, when you got stabbed…" Derek placed his hand under Casey's chin and smiled.

"Casey, for you, I won't ever get into another fight. However, if I have to fight to protect you, then you know I'm going to do that. The stab didn't do anything to me, sure it hurt a little, but it didn't do anything entirely damaging to me."

"I know, but…I guess I just need to stop worrying. Hell, you're going into the police force, you wanted to do that since last year. You're going to be shot at every single day!"

"And I'm going to come home to you every single day." Derek placed his hand on Casey's stomach and smiled. "I'm going to come home to these beautiful children every single day. Sure, there are going to be dangers, there's going to be some hard times. However, they're all for the good of humanity. Let me know, Casey, if you think being the wife of a police officer would be too hard and I will change my career goal. I can be a lawyer, or even a teacher."

"I don't want you to change your career goal…" Derek smirked and closed his eyes.

"You know, we could open our own family business."

"Huh?"

"Well I got this idea once before. We could open a nice restaurant or maybe open a toy factory." Casey chuckled and crossed her arms over.

"A restaurant sounds very nice actually."

"You love to cook, and I'm a decent chef, I think if we open a nice restaurant establishment, we could go far."

"I like that plan, it's perfect."

"Yeah, I can take management courses in college and so forth, we can open a restaurant and it'll be a family business. It does sound like a perfect plan, just as perfect as you." Derek smirked and brushed Casey's nose with the rose.

"That tickles!"

"I love you Casey." Casey wrapped her arms around Derek's neck and kissed his lips.

"I love you too, Derek." Casey pulled Derek back onto the bed and looked up into his eyes. Her heart started to beat quicker and she kissed Derek's lips once more.

"Casey…Where are we going with this?"

"I'm pregnant anyway! Plus, we're getting married soon!" Derek continued to kiss Casey as they pulled the covers over themselves.

-**NEW SCENE-**

"Good morning Edwin," Lizzie said as she walked down the stairs. Edwin was sitting on the couch and he looked very tired. "How did you sleep last night?"

"I don't know…how did you sleep?" Edwin asked as he crossed his arms. Lizzie sighed and sat down on the couch.

"Not as peacefully as Marti did. She's definitely a sound sleeper." Lizzie ran her hand through her hair and yawned loudly. She closed her eyes and her head fell on Edwin's shoulder. She quickly opened her eyes and looked up. "Sorry!"

"Actually, that wasn't so bad." Lizzie raised her eyebrow and chuckled.

"Yeah, whatever…uh anyway, I thought Derek and Casey weren't going to do anything until they got married.

"Sexual frustration is a hard thing to keep pent up I guess…It doesn't matter though, they'll be getting married soon. Though last night, I had to come in here and sleep on the couch."

"Too much noise for you?"

"Yes!" Lizzie chuckled and shook her head. "Ah it doesn't really matter though, at least Marti was able to sleep well last night. I checked her room and she was sleeping like a baby…I suppose it's normal since her room is furthest from Casey's."

"I'm guessing they were making up, Casey didn't sound too happy with Derek after the fight with Max." Lizzie sighed and looked over at the stairs. "Seriously, Edwin, I didn't get a lot of sleep."

"Maybe that'll be the last time they do any 'making up' until they're married." Edwin tilted his head back and laughed. "One can hope."

"No, I think they were just releasing that sexual pressure they had. In my class at school, they say it is difficult to keep in any sexual urges."

"Yeah, if there's a spark or chemistry, it is hard to control any kind of urges or impulses."

"Yeah…" Lizzie glanced at Edwin, he was staring at a wall. "Uh Edwin, what do you make of everything?"

"What do you mean?"

"All that's happened so far. Derek and Casey being together and that creep, David, always chasing after her. What do you make of the whole Venturi-Vitale war?"

"Personally, I'm just glad that's over," Edwin said with a chuckle. "Wouldn't you be glad it's over?"

"Yeah, but it was kind of scary." Edwin raised his eyebrow and let out a small chuckle. "What do you think is so funny?"

"Were you actually scared? Marti told me how you always acted tough and whatnot."

"That's the key word…" Lizzie narrowed her eyes and sighed. "I could be considered a great actress, you never know." Edwin crossed his arms and smirked.

"You, as an actress? Well if you managed to fool anyone with the tough act, then sure you're definitely a great actress."

"You would make a good actor, maybe." Edwin shrugged his shoulders and placed his leg over his other leg. He considered the thought of acting and scowled.

"I don't like it. I'd be a very bad actor."

"Hey, I heard that you were considering the military one day."

"Uh, yeah…I thought about that some time ago. Nowadays, I'm not too sure I'd want to go in the military. I've just experienced a taste of having to kill people…it isn't fun."

"You don't have to kill people in the military."

"I know…"

"You'd be great, you're there to serve and protect your country. What you did back there was protect your family. You saved our lives and we're indebted to you."

"I don't like having people owe me anything."

"Well either way, you did a very good thing and I think if you really want to pursue the military, it's something you should go into. Of course, you have a few years before that happens, it's not important right now." Edwin chuckled and nodded his head.

"Maybe one day, I think its fun but I might make a better business man. Though, a lot of those jobs can be provided when in the military and I could make more money that way."

"You know, I can honestly say that what you did was very brave. I was not scared at all when you were around, I thought you handled the situation very well."

"Thank you. I'm glad you thought I did a good job in protecting you." Lizzie smiled and hugged Edwin. She could feel something inside of her, but she was not sure what she was feeling. She had to admit, she thought once or twice about the Venturi-Vitale-McDonald combination. She had figured that she wouldn't fall into the same group. That was ended when she found herself brushing Edwin's lips in a quick, chaste kiss. She pulled back and Edwin stared back at her with wide eyes.

"Oh my god…I'm so sorry!"

"No, that was…that was surprisingly warm." Lizzie bit her lip and looked at Edwin.

"It did actually feel good. Is it right though? I-I'm a bit confused now."

"Yeah…"

"Edwin, do you want to…try that again?"

"Well only if you want to, I mean."

"Let's see what happens this time. I mean, unless I was mistaken, I thought I felt chemistry in that." Lizzie wrapped her arms around Edwin's neck and Edwin held Lizzie's waist, they brought their lips together in what was a steamy kiss. They did not hear the opening of the front door, but they did hear what came next.

"Lizzie McDonald!"

"Edwin Venturi!"

"What do you think you're doing!" George and Nora exclaimed.

* * *

Ooh, sounds like trouble...that would be unexpected, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	34. Big News

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 33 (Big News)

Edwin and Lizzie quickly broke apart and chuckled nervously. They were not sure themselves on what they were doing, so they didn't know how to explain what they were doing to their parents. "Uh, welcome home, Dad," Edwin said with a nervous smile.

"Hey mom, how was your vacation?" Lizzie asked. George and Nora just stood with their mouths hanging open.

"It was fun until we got delayed and George got shot, and why the hell are you two kissing each other!" Nora exclaimed. George blinked and shook his head with a small chuckle.

"That van out there looks nice actually," George said.

"Don't change the subject, George!" Edwin rubbed the back of his head and looked at George and Nora.

"Uh, this isn't going to ruin your relationship, is it?" Edwin asked. "I mean…Lizzie and I were just..."

"We kind of bumped into each other!" Lizzie said quickly.

"With your arms around his neck?" Nora asked with a frantic voice. Marti walked down the stairs and rubbed her eyes.

"Man, I'm really getting left out," Marti said quickly. "If Edwin and Lizzie are-"

"Silence, Marti!" Edwin said quickly.

"Uh, yeah…should I go get Derek and Casey now?"

"That depends, I don't think you should." Edwin narrowed his eyes and sighed. "In fact, very bad idea." Edwin grumbled to himself, he didn't know George and Nora would be back so early. He looked over at the clock and noticed it was eleven, he hadn't caught that before.

"Is something wrong with Casey!" Nora exclaimed. "Also, explain why you were kissing!" Edwin scratched his head and looked over at Nora.

"Uh…the Venturi-McDonald relations perhaps."

"Oh don't go there, that would scare me if you went there! Because if you went there, I'd think the whole Italian mafia thing was real and some Vitale's going to come around and try to take my daughter away!" Edwin coughed and Lizzie glanced to the side. Nora raised her eyebrow and George rubbed his neck.

"Yeah, I'm just going to go get Derek and Casey out of their beds," Marti said with large eyes and a forced smile. Edwin and Lizzie sighed as Marti walked up the stairs.

"Okay, I know this isn't incest," Nora said as she rubbed her forehead and paced the floor. "In fact, this should be completely normal because George and I haven't even married yet! But won't this just be awkward in the long run? What the hell have I missed while I've been away!"

_"More than you know,"_ Lizzie thought as she glanced to the side. Soon they heard Casey scream.

"Marti! Get out the room, quickly!" Casey exclaimed, Lizzie coughed and Edwin rolled his eyes. They suspected Derek and Casey had slept in the same room and were probably not dressed at the current moment. They heard footsteps scrambling about and then saw Marti walking down the stairs with wide eyes.

"Can I just run to my daddy and tell him hi, and that I love him and hope he had a good trip?" Marti asked. George chuckled and held out his arms.

"Yeah, come here sweetie," George said quickly. Marti cheered and ran into George's arms.

"How can you be so calm!" Nora said quickly. "We're getting married soon, and here's Edwin and Lizzie kissing! What does this say!"

"Someone has a lot of explaining to do," Lizzie said quietly._ "Very bad time to walk in on two people unexpected. I wonder how we're going to explain this."_ Lizzie sighed and looked at Nora. "It was nothing, mom. We were just trying to practice for our real dates, there was nothing involved in that kiss, right Edwin?" Edwin looked at Lizzie and she nudged him quickly.

"Right!" Edwin said quickly. "That kiss was nothing at all. It will not interfere with anything when we become siblings."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Nora said quietly. "I was just caught by surprise because you two just met."

"Well we did actually just meet, therefore we couldn't possibly feel anything for each other."

"Yeah," Lizzie said quickly. "It'd be more believable if it were Casey and Derek." Edwin raised his eyebrow and looked at Lizzie.

"Yeah, that would be more believable," Nora said. "I wonder what would happen if they wound up meeting, but they don't like each other. They've also had a relationship with someone else for two years." Edwin and Lizzie gave Nora and George looks of pity.

"So, what would happen if that really _did_ happen?" Edwin asked. "I'm curious, what would your reaction be if Casey and Derek actually _did_ meet up two years prior and wound up falling in love?" George and Nora looked at each other and shrugged. They chuckled nervously and sat down on the couch.

"Well, I don't think that could happen," Nora stated.

"Haven't you seen how much they bicker?" George asked. "They couldn't possibly be in love. Besides, we've seen their real boyfriend and girlfriend. Casey's dating Sam, and for some reason she had Max with her that one day because Sam was too nervous to meet us and they had Max fake as her boyfriend." Edwin and Lizzie looked at each other and chuckled. "Derek's been dating Emily for two years as well."

"Yeah, so that's how that works out."

"Odd thing about it all is Sam is Derek's best friend, you'd think Casey would have met Derek at some point of time, but I guess Sam didn't ever want to introduce them." Edwin and Lizzie raised their eyebrows and the same thing ran through their minds.

_"Clueless."_

"_If_ they actually met and dated for two years, it would make sense," Nora stated. "It would probably be fine with me since they've known each other for…"

"Longer than we have," George finished. "We were just a bit shocked and surprised to see you two kissing. It doesn't mean we would not support it." This time Marti shook her head, she was surprised how clueless her dad and Nora were. She was a little girl and she figured it out! Everyone looked over to see Casey and Derek walking down the stairs, they smiled at George and Nora.

"Hey mom, hey George," Casey stated. "How was your trip?"

"It was hectic," Nora said. "The trip was fun up until the point that Mrs. Vitale shot George."

"Yeah, I don't think we'll have to worry about the Vitale family anymore," Derek stated. George tapped his chin and thought he saw Derek's arm behind Casey, on her back. He wondered if Derek was posting a 'kick me' sign or something on Casey's back.

"We're glad you're okay Dad," Derek said as he crossed his arms.

"Yeah, I honestly didn't know what that woman was talking about," George stated. "I mean, I've heard a lot from my father but I always thought he was making up stories."

"He wasn't."

"What?" George and Nora looked at Derek with wide eyes.

"The Venturi-Vitale war was real and it is all over now. It ended with David Vitale…and me."

"Oh my god, where you hurt!" Nora exclaimed as she ran over to Derek.

"Not entirely. You can actually read all about that in this journal." Derek took out the journal that Casey wrote in, she had shown him what she wrote and he had it in his pocket. Derek tossed the journal toward George and he caught it in his hands. "Unfortunately David had a lot of 'soldiers' with him and Max was in with him. Max got me and I escaped with the help of Grandpa and Mr. McDonald. Unfortunately, Mrs. Vitale came and shot Grandpa…She killed herself then as well."

"We're glad you're okay," George said as he started to open the journal.

"Mom, George, I have some big news," Casey said. "You may want to sit down." George and Nora looked at Casey and sat down. "Mom…George…I'm pregnant."

"What!" George exclaimed as he stood up quickly. "That's it, Sam is dead!"

"Actually, the father is Derek."

"What!" Edwin, Lizzie and Marti all made wincing movements and let out a chuckle.

"Derek is the father?" Nora asked as she stood up slowly. "Derek is…"

"Derek is the love of my life," Casey said.

"But like Edwin and Lizzie…you two just…"

"Do you _think_ she could be pregnant if they just met?" Edwin asked. "Okay, that's actually possible if she was only two weeks pregnant."

"I'm nearly three months pregnant," Casey said. "Derek has actually been my 'perfect' two year long boyfriend. We thought the first test was wrong and then the second test was wrong…the doctor confirmed the pregnancy."

"So, I'm going to be a grandmother?" Nora asked as she placed her hand to her chest. "This is…it's odd but it's so great. Derek was actually…" Nora and George slowly turned their heads toward Edwin and Lizzie, the two kids smiled and waved their hands through the air.

"We tried to keep it a secret," Derek said. "When she wasn't pregnant, didn't want to ruin your relationship by saying that we were dating. Marti figured it out first and then we had to tell Edwin and Lizzie. Sam of course figured it out, Emily did not. For the most part, I'm going to be the father of two baby girls."

"So, you have twins?" George asked. "I'm speechless, I honestly don't know what to say. I'm happy but surprised at the same time. Do you know the responsibility you have now?"

"I've proposed to Casey, we will be getting married soon. We intend to go to college and after that we want to see about opening a family restaurant."

"Well then I guess I should say…it's good to have you in the family, Casey." Casey smiled at George and hugged him.

"I feel the same, Derek," Nora said with a smile. "Surprised, but still…it's good to have you in the family." Nora hugged Derek and smiled.

"By the way," Derek started. "We have a house we're intending to buy. Oh and read that journal entry." George and Nora opened the book and read a few pages before Derek had them flip to the final page. They read Casey's entry with wide eyes and looked up from the book.

"Oh my god, you all were in that danger?" Nora asked with large eyes. "That was happening, Edwin had a gun!"

"Yeah, and it won't happen again," Edwin said as he raised his hand in the air. Nora sighed and crossed her arms

"George, what does this mean?" Nora asked in a low whisper. "Didn't Georgia say this as well? No matter what, a McDonald and a Venturi will always love each other in a romantic light."

"I don't know," George stated. "We'll have to think about what happens next." George walked over to Derek and placed his hand on Derek's shoulder. "It's good to see you taking responsibility and doing what is right for the children that Casey will bear. It is too often where a teenage father won't accept responsibility and the mother is left alone."

"I would never do that to Casey," Derek said. "I would give my life just to keep her safe and happy."

"You see," Edwin said quickly. "Your stepparents won't kick you out!" Derek and Casey groaned and looked over at Edwin. "What? Okay, I'm shutting up."

"Derek, do you and Casey really want to move into another home?" George asked.

"Tonio Vitale is the last one left, he came to us earlier and gave us some money…he also gave us a check for a house. Casey and I want our kids to grow up in a home of their own, Casey and I will raise them with our rules."

"How strict will those be?"

"We haven't decided yet, the babies will be babies first. However, we won't be one of those who never says no to our kids. Children need discipline. The house we have chosen is within a mile from here and within twenty minutes from the college."

"Then it's settled. You and Casey can move into that house when you two get married. Uh, how much money did Tonio Vitale give you?"

"About ten million dollars," Casey said.

"Whoa!" George nearly passed out and Nora flushed. "That is a lot of money. It's definitely enough that you can support yourselves."

"I still want to help pay for your college," Nora stated. "Can I help pay for your college, Casey?"

"What about you Derek?" George asked. "Put that ten million away and save it for life after college or something. Don't spend it on your college stuff."

"If you want to pay for my college like you were planning, I guess that'd be okay," Derek said with a shrug. Casey nodded her head and smiled.

"I can go with that," Casey said. George and Nora smiled and looked over at Edwin and Lizzie, at that they frowned and looked at each other.

"I need to clear my head for a minute," Nora said with a small smile. George placed his hand on Nora's back and immediately removed it.

"Yeah, it's been a long trip and all, I'm going to get some quick rest." Everyone watched as George and Nora started walking up the stairs. Marti sighed and crossed her arms.

"I think they still have some thinking to do," Marti said quietly.

"Yeah, _why_ did they frown when they looked at Edwin and Lizzie?" Casey asked. Edwin and Lizzie chuckled nervously and scooted away from each other.

"Dad and Nora walked in on them," Marti said. She walked toward the stairs and looked back. "Oh and Derek, Casey, you need to be quieter when you're together and other people are sleeping." Marti walked up the stairs and everyone watched her with wide eyes.

* * *

Hmm, what will happen now I wonder? Stick around!


	35. George and Nora's Decision

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 34 (George and Nora's Decision)

"What are we going to do?" Nora asked as she lay in the bed, George paced the floor and rubbed his forehead. They were confused as hell, they could support Casey and Derek because the two had been together long enough, but they didn't know what to do about Edwin and Lizzie. "We walked in on Edwin and Lizzie, most likely after that kiss everything will be awkward."

"They did mention it not meaning anything," George said as he crossed his arms.

"Yeah, but they could have just been saying that because they didn't want anything bad to happen between us or something. We need to think about this, George."

"I know, that's what I'm doing. So, Marti's the only one that doesn't seem to be falling in love with someone that will be their stepsibling."

"Yeah, I never had a son her age. I say we do postpone our wedding until after the wedding of Casey and Derek. However, that's the question…" George raised his eyebrow and walked over to Nora.

"What are you thinking?"

"Think of the future. What will their children think, what will the friends of their children think?"

"Nora?"

"If they only have one set of grandparents, do you think the two babies would be made fun of as they grow up? Would their parents be accused of incest?" George sighed and sat on the bed. He ran his hand through his hair and exhaled.

"I see what you're getting at, I think." George clasped his hands together and sighed. If Derek and Casey got married, that would make them both grandparents. The children would grow up knowing a grandpa on their dad's side and a grandma on their mom's side. If those grandparents were married then they would have one set of grandparents. "It would be confusing I suppose, if the children were asked what side their grandparents were on."

"I can see it now George. 'Your grandparents are on what side?' They would have to grow up saying that one grandparent was from their dad and the other was from their mom. However, if they did that…"

"The world is cruel, Nora. People would think it was a ploy and it still meant their parents were siblings. People in the world just wouldn't want to recognize stepsibling love as normal."

"Yeah, but Derek and Casey weren't stepsiblings when they were together. In fact, they're not stepsiblings just yet either." George placed his hand over Nora's hand and smiled.

"You're thinking of their children, that's a good thing. You know, when people love each other, there are times where they may have to let each other go for the love of someone else." Nora nodded and looked up, a tear fell down her cheek.

"I shouldn't be crying," Nora said as she wiped the tear away. "I'm happy because my daughter is going to get married to a great guy who will be a great father and a perfect husband."

"How do you know that?"

"He's _your_ son." George chuckled and nodded his head. "Now it seems Lizzie and Edwin are starting to like each other."

"You know, what would happen if we did get married? Derek, Casey, Edwin and Lizzie would all be accused of incest probably."

"Oh god, my worst fear…Casey and Lizzie thrown out of school just because they're in love with somebody."

"As I said, the world is cruel…would people really understand?"

"There are people that think stepsibling love is incestuous, but it is not. However, I don't want to force that label on my children, I don't want to be the cause of people labeling them as incestuous." A knock was heard on the door, Nora and George looked over and Sam walked into the room.

"Hey Mr. Venturi and Ms. McDonald, I heard you found out about Derek and Casey," Sam said as he closed the door. "I thought I'd just come and see what you're thinking."

"They sent you here to play messenger, didn't they?" George asked with a small chuckle. Sam shrugged and sat down in a chair.

"Sam, Can I ask you a question?" Nora asked.

"That was a question," Sam stated with a smirk.

"Sam, if you didn't know Casey and Derek at all and you just met them, say we were married and you found out that they were dating, what would be the first thought that goes through your mind?"

"Uh…I'd ask them why they were dating if they were siblings."

"So you would think they were incestuous."

"Well maybe, but they're really not."

"I know…and we came home to find Edwin and Lizzie in a lip-lock."

"Ah…" Sam rubbed his chin and looked down in thought. "I don't know what to say."

"What if you met their daughters and didn't know the family. Say you found out they had one set of parents and they were technically from both sides of the family."

"Okay, I'll give you that one…it may sound a little strange and someone like an employer or a teacher might be a little confused." Nora nodded and looked over at George.

"Do you see, George? This is what we'd be putting on our grandchildren!" Sam rubbed his chin and eyed the two.

"Are you two considering…"

"We may call off our wedding," George said as he closed his eyes and sighed. "Nora's right, we don't want to make our grandchildren grow up having to explain everything."

"We also don't want to make Casey and Derek have to deal with it all," Nora said quietly. "I wouldn't mind seeing Edwin and Lizzie date but I don't want to see them go out to a movie and kiss and have another person shout at them because they're siblings."

"You don't think Derek, Casey, Edwin, and Lizzie could handle the criticism?" Sam asked as he raised his eyebrow.

"I think they could handle it, but I don't want them to have to deal with it."

"I see…one more question…what about Marti?" George and Nora looked at each other and sighed. Sam walked over to the door and opened it to reveal Marti standing behind the door.

"Uh…hi dad, hi Nora," Marti said with a small chuckle.

"Marti, were you eavesdropping?" George asked with a firm tone. Marti sighed and walked over to George.

"Yes, but I was interested. Dad, are you really going to call off the wedding for Derek, Casey, Edwin and Lizzie? I personally think that is a good thought."

"It takes a strong, unselfish love to do something like that," Sam said quietly. "For another person…"

"Derek and Casey were doing that, they were dating in secret because they were afraid of ruining your relationship." George and Nora raised their eyebrows and looked up. They sighed and slowly stood up from the bed.

"Marti, go tell everyone to meet downstairs," George said. Marti nodded and ran out of the room. Sam placed his finger on his chin and looked at George and Nora.

"Do you feel you're making the right choice?" Sam asked.

"Yes." George, Nora and Sam all walked out of the room and down into the living room. Everybody was already down and sitting in chairs or standing up.

"What's going on?" Edwin asked. George sighed as he and Nora sat down on the couch.

"Edwin, Lizzie, please continue your relationship," Nora said with a smile. Lizzie and Edwin quickly blushed and looked away.

"What relationship?" Edwin asked.

"The one that is blooming between you and Lizzie."

"Mom, what are you saying?" Lizzie asked as she raised her eyebrow.

"George and I have decided that for all of your sakes, and the sakes of Derek and Casey's grandchildren, we are going to call off our wedding."

"What!" Derek, Casey, Edwin and Lizzie all shouted as they eyed their parents.

"That's exactly what we tried to avoid!" Casey said quickly.

"It's for the best," George stated. "Think about it, it would be very hard on your children to grow up and have people assume they're part of an incestuous family because their grandparents are married and they're parents were stepsiblings. The world doesn't recognize stepsibling love as a perfect love just yet."

"We can see the love you have for each other, though," Nora said with a smile. Sam crossed his arms and sighed.

"If it makes you feel any better," Sam said quietly. "My grandparents were stepsiblings."

"They were?"

"Yes…it turns out they _did_ have a little trouble though. When they fell in love with each other and married, people automatically assumed them to be incestuous. My father is often questioned for having parents who were incestuous. Even though they're stepsiblings and there is no incest in that, humanity just refuses to recognize them." Sam leaned against a wall and looked up in the air. "To this day, my father still has slight difficulty with good jobs and stuff. Even I am judged at times because of my grandparents. I think people are wrong to label my grandparents like that, but it's just how people are. Whenever I tell someone that my grandparents are honestly stepsiblings, they look at me like I'm nuts and diseased. The truth is, they're afraid of confusion, they're afraid that people will become confused and the people out there will say sibling love isn't bad."

"Not even I knew that," Derek said as he slowly blinked. "You never told me that."

"Well, you know now. That's the good thing."

"So, Dad, do you honestly think that it's best?" Derek asked as he raised his eyebrow.

"Nora and I have decided," George said with a nod. "You two will have your wedding and we will call off our wedding."

"There is only one problem," Nora said quietly. "Lizzie and I can't exactly live in this house…" Lizzie raised her eyebrow and looked over.

"Mom, we sold our last home!"

"We'll make the basement of our home into a bedroom," Derek said as he crossed his arms. Casey nodded and smiled.

"I like that idea," Casey said. "One of you can take the basement and the other can take one of the bedrooms. There are four bedrooms in our home. Derek and I get the master bedroom, the children get one of the rooms turned into the nursery. The guest room is just for that, so one of you gets the bedroom left over."

"What do you think, Lizzie?" Nora asked. "They're home isn't far from here."

"Yeah I know that," Lizzie said with a sigh. "I suppose I should start packing up again. I like the idea, it works for me."

"So then it's decided," Nora stated with a smile. "Everybody is fine with this?"

"I'm fine with it if everyone else is," George stated. "It was Casey and Derek that didn't want to make things hard for us and now it's our turn to do something for them so things don't become hard on them." Derek and Casey looked at each other, Casey smiled softly and Derek nodded.

"We're fine with it all," Derek said. "At least it still works out nicely for everyone."

"I don't have anything against it I guess," Edwin said quietly.

"I'm fine with it," Marti said quickly. "Now, I'm hungry, let's go eat!"

* * *

The story is not done yet, stick around for the next chapter. Hope you liked this one though. Thanks to all the people who have been reviewing this story, there are so many that I can't possibly name you all. You're really an inspiration to keep me moving!


	36. It's Time

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

* * *

Chapter 35 (It's Time)

Six months passed by, Derek and Casey had married within two weeks of David Vitale's death. "That was a good movie," Lizzie said as she and Casey walked out of the movie theater.

"Oh yeah, I liked it, I didn't know you were interested in romance though," Casey stated. Lizzie shrugged and crossed her arms.

"There's nothing wrong with a good romance movie every now and then. My boyfriend takes me to some great movies and a lot of them are romance. I actually asked him to take me to some of those…I love going on dates with my boyfriend."

"So Edwin is pretty romantic then?" Lizzie blushed and smiled.

"Yes, he's very romantic."

"Derek was a big time romantic and he still is to this day."

"I'm thankful I got the basement of the house, I seem to hear some noise every now and then when I go to get a midnight snack." Lizzie narrowed her eyes and smirked. "It's coming from the master bedroom." Casey chuckled and sighed.

"That's part of the married life. Plus they say that sex during pregnancy can speed up the pregnancy."

"I'm definitely waiting until marriage before I start any of that stuff."

"Yeah, good idea."

"So when are you due in again?"

"Any day now. So you'll be an aunt very soon."

"Sweet, I can't wait!" Lizzie grinned and looked at Casey's belly. "Pregnancy interests me, I should research it…"

"Yeah, but don't experiment."

"Don't worry, I just intend to read up on it and run some tests on pregnant women. I've actually been doing that. I had to see what cravings were stronger…" Casey looked to the side and her nose twitched slightly. "Food is a very good tool."

"That's why there were a lot of snacks on the counter a week ago; I thought Derek was the one that left all that stuff on the counter to tease me." Lizzie chuckled nervously as Casey stared down at her.

"You are crazy…" Casey placed her hand on her abdomen and her face suddenly changed. "Oh no…"

"What? Is something wrong?" Lizzie looked at Casey and her eyes went wide. "Don't tell me! They're coming!"

"They're coming and they're strong!" Casey groaned and yelled. "It's time! Aah! Get a car! Call Derek!"

"Mom's closer, she's in the convenience store."

"I don't give a damn who you call, call them now!" Casey screamed as Lizzie pulled out a cell phone.

"Lizzie, what's going on? Did you enjoy the movie?" Nora's voice asked over the phone.

"Mom! Bring a car to the front of the theater quickly! It's time!"

"It's time? What…Oh! Casey's going into labor! I'll be right there!"

**-NEW SCENE-**

Derek patted his hands together and smiled as he looked around the building. "Nice, very nice!" Derek said quickly. George placed his hand on Derek's shoulder and Edwin chuckled.

"You finally bought out the restaurant. You're the owner of this place," George stated.

"Yeah, the remodeling is finally finished," Edwin stated as the three sat down at a table. "You have to love the sign outside, it's very simplistic. 'Venturi's Diner' is a nice name."

"Yeah, it didn't call for anything complex," Derek said as he placed a rag on the table. "We can open this place next week. Casey's been looking forward to this place getting open."

"I like the fact that this place is also part store," George said as he placed his hands behind his head and grinned. "You have a nice variety of foodstuff in the store portion and you have great food on the menu. How did you come up with the menu?"

"Well dad, Casey and I took some of our close friends and a few new friends and found what they liked best. A lot of the recipes on the menu are a 'Venturi Original' which means they're an item Casey and I created from scratch."

"Lizzie told me she tasted some of the original recipes that you and Casey created," Edwin stated with a grin. "She says they're delicious and that you two are the greatest chefs she's ever met." Derek laughed and crossed his arms.

"We do appreciate the compliments."

"Nora and Lizzie are lucky," George said with a chuckle. "They get to be the first to taste your food because they live in the house with you guys." Derek looked over as Marti walked out of the restroom.

"Man this place is clean!" Marti said quickly.

"The girls helped on that," Derek said with a nod. "A family diner, the family helps keep it in shape."

"Yeah, at least we don't have to get covered in paint anymore," Edwin said with a chuckle. "It's nice to admire the finished work."

"I'll just have to get home, take a shower and then bring Casey over here; she is going to want to see this place now. She couldn't see the progress on it because of all the dust and paint fumes that was everywhere." The diner wasn't overly fancy but it was homey, it had two floors, the upper floor was the shop area and the bottom floor was the restaurant part. They had soft booths and beautifully polished tables, the windows let the natural light in and peach curtains hung over the windows. The floor was polished oak and the walls were painted to match the floor. It was definitely a beautiful diner. Derek, George, Edwin and Marti walked out of the restaurant and closed it up.

"I can't get over how great this place is," Marti said with a smile. "It's perfect."

"Yeah and it's nestled in a place where it won't get major competition but it will get plenty of customers who will want to enjoy great homemade meals." Derek's cell phone began to ring so he pulled it out and answered.

"Derek! You have to hurry!" Lizzie exclaimed through the phone. "Casey's going into labor!"

"Holy! I'll be right there! The hospital, right?"

"Yes!" Derek quickly ran to the car and everyone followed after him, Derek quickly drove toward the hospital. Derek made it to the hospital and George began to pant heavily.

"Sure, give your father a heart attack why don't you?" George asked as he and everyone else ran out of the car and into the hospital.

"Derek Venturi?" A nurse asked as Derek entered the waiting room.

"Yes."

"Your wife is down the hall in the delivery room, I will take you there." The group followed the nurse to the room and she turned to Derek. "Only the husband can go in right now." Derek nodded and entered the room. Casey was screaming and Dr. Williams was telling her to push.

"I'm here Casey," Derek said as he took Casey's hand. He grunted as she started to crush his hand.

"Derek! What the hell took you so long!" Casey exclaimed. "Aah, this hurts damn it!" Derek chuckled and watched as Dr. Williams took out the first baby and handed it to a nurse.

"There's the first one, she's beautiful, Casey."

"I'm not done yet! Why the hell are you so late!" Derek chuckled again as Casey squeezed his hand tightly.

"If you keep this up I'm going to lose all mobility of my hand…"

"Derek! Damn it, do all you Venturi's have to cause so much pain! Do all you Venturi's forget to pull out! Don't you know how to pull out! Condoms can be a man's best friend, Venturi!" Derek smiled and let out a chuckle as the doctor smirked.

"As much fun as it is to talk sex, it may not be the best time to do that now, my love." Derek whispered as he kissed Casey's forehead. Finally after a few minutes, Dr. Williams brought out the second baby. Soon the doctor and a nurse brought the babies to Derek and Casey.

"Congratulations," Dr. Williams said. "You are now the proud parents of two very healthy baby girls."

"They're so beautiful," Casey said as she took her little baby girl in her hands. Derek held the other twin in his hand and smiled as the baby moved her arms and legs. Derek rested the baby in her mother's other arm and sat in the chair next to Casey's bedside. Casey smiled at her two children. "Derek, we're parents of two beautiful baby girls."

"That's right, and I bet they'll grow up with their mother's beauty," Derek said with a smile. Derek loved Casey with all his heart and he loved how she could go from a screaming, frighteningly strong person to a gentle, sweet and loving person in a split second.

"They're going to have a great life," Casey said with a grin.

"Yeah, but this one's going to be my special little daddy's girl." Derek pointed to the baby closest to him. The baby grabbed Derek's index finger and squeezed. He and Casey chuckled and the baby continued to hold his finger. "Yep, this one's going to be the tomboy. These two will be my special little girls, now when they start meeting boys, I'm keeping a close eye on them."

"Hah, don't tell me you have everything planned out for them already."

"All down to the college that they'll be going to which is right across the street from the home we're going to by." Derek smirked and Casey kissed his lips.

"Let's name them."

"That would be a good idea." Casey looked at the little one on the left and smiled.

"Sherry."

"That's a beautiful name."

"Now you should name our other daughter."

"How about Sarah?"

"Sarah works, it's a great name."

"They're going to love that restaurant by the way."

"Is it finished?"

"Yes. It can be opened next week." Dr. Williams walked into the room and smiled.

"Your family can come in if you're ready for them."

"Yes, please let them come in," Derek responded. Dr. Williams nodded and left the room, soon George, Nora, Lizzie, Edwin and Marti all entered the room.

"Ooh, they're so cute!" Lizzie said with a grin. Casey smiled back and looked at Sherry.

"This one is Sherry," Casey said. "This one here is Sarah."

"Those are great names for two beautiful babies," Nora said. "I am so happy, I'm finally a grandmother!"

"Young yes, but hey I couldn't be happier," George said with a grin. "My son is going to make a good father and I am going to spoil those two girls like crazy." Derek and Casey chuckled and slowly shook their heads. Edwin crossed his arms and smirked.

"I'm definitely going to be spoiling them," Edwin said. "I'm going to make a fun uncle."

"I'm an aunt!" Marti exclaimed as she squealed with joy. "Yay!"

"This day could not be more perfect than it already is," Casey said with a soft voice. "A perfect husband, a family owned business, a great family and two perfect little babies. How could this day get any better?"

"How would you like to be pampered like the queen you are?" Derek asked with a smirk.

"Okay that does it! That makes the day even better!" Derek laughed and kissed Casey's lips.

* * *

There is one more chapter after this. The Epilogue sequence of course, there is one final knot that must be untied.


	37. Epilogue: The End

Big News

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, I honestly don't. I don't see myself owning it anytime soon, either.

A/N: Thoughts in _Italics_ and regular speech is in regular font.

A/N: Read the author note at the end of this as well, please.

* * *

Chapter 36 (Epilogue: The End)

"Ah Ivanhoe," Sarah said as she clutched a book to her chest. Sherry raised her eyebrow.

"Ivan-who?" Sherry asked. The girls were sixteen years old and they were leaving school.

"Ivanhoe, the guy that rescues the damsel and does several noble deeds."

"Heh, isn't chivalry dead?" Sherry crossed her arms and sighed. "It is, chivalry is dead."

"It is not! There's nothing more romantic than to have a noble hero fight for someone he loves."

"Yeah, you don't even need Ivanhoe for that." Sherry rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I mean come one, dad could beat Ivanhoe to a pulp." Sarah shrugged and crossed her arms.

"Ivanhoe or Daddy, I think Dad is better off."

"_Thank_ you. So, why do you have your hair so incredibly long?"

"It's only a little past my shoulders. Your hair just goes a little past your chin."

"People can tell me from you in that sense. Come on, we don't really want to be late." Sarah and Sherry were getting everything ready for the anniversary opening of the Venturi's Diner. It had been sixteen years to the day since the grand opening of the diner. In the years since it had been open, it underwent a lot of changes. The diner had about six floors and people could eat on the rooftop, the diner had become part of a shop as well and it blew away any competition that had dare to rear it's ugly head. Both Sherry and Sarah worked at the place as waitresses and sometimes they would cook the meals. Their fourteen year old brother, Mark, couldn't wait to start helping out at the diner as well as their twelve year old sister, Cindy. They had an eight year old sister named Debbie. After that, Derek and Casey decided to hold on having anymore children. That worked well and now Casey is once again pregnant with a male child.

"You know, I think it's great what Dad did for Mom sixteen years ago!" Sarah said quickly. "He's the perfect Ivanhoe!"

"Yes, and you're 'daddy's little girl,'" Sherry said with a smirk.

"You're very much the same!"

"Yes, but I'm not crazy like you are." Sarah punched Sherry's arm playfully and Sherry rubbed her arm in mock pain. "Ouch, that really hurt…"

"Well anyway, you should be reading Ivanhoe also, it's our school assignment!"

"I've already read the book. You haven't read it because you still haven't passed the excitement stage." Sarah rolled her eyes and chuckled as the girls walked to the front of the diner. "In a couple of years, Mark will get the opportunity to work here."

"Yeah, you know what…" Sherry looked over at Sarah as she looked to the ground. "It's too bad Uncle Edwin and Aunt Lizzie can't come today."

"Well you know that Uncle Edwin is in the air force, they get transferred a lot of places at least every year."

"Why'd they have to transfer over to the base in Germany though?" Sherry shrugged her shoulders and the two sisters walked into the diner. It wasn't up to those in the military to say where they get transferred.

"It is only for one year, both Uncle Edwin and Aunt Lizzie will be back in the states next year. A Major in the Air Force goes wherever he is called, be it for war or not."

"There isn't any war going on though!"

"I did just say 'be it for war or not' didn't I?" Sarah nodded and walked with Sherry into the employee's only section of the building. She found the control panel and flipped the lights and everything on. "Okay, now that everything is open and on, let's meet mom and dad up on the roof. Will you take the stairs this time?"

"I'd rather take the elevator like usual."

"You need exercise, come on 'princess' let's take the stairs!"

"No." Sherry smirked and pinched Sarah's arm. "Hey!" Sherry laughed and ran as Sarah chased her. They ran around the corner and then into the stairwell, Sarah chased Sherry all the way to the top. "You tricked me!"

"You're easy to trick," Sherry said with a small chuckle. Sherry stood up straight and glanced to the side. "Sarah, do you get a bad feeling?"

"Actually I do kind of have an odd feeling…" Sarah nodded as she followed Sherry to the entrance onto the rooftop. When they opened the door they saw Max standing in front of them looking over the edge of the rooftop. "Sherry, that man…who is he? He gives me the creeps…"

"Well he's definitely not the president of the company that we're supposed to be serving today." Their parents were supposed to be talking to a group of people who resided as the board of a great football team that was going to sponsor the Venturi's Diner. "Where's mom, dad, Mark, Cindy and Debbie? They should be here with the-"

"Sherry, look over there!" Sherry looked over as Sarah pointed to a bunch of people handcuffed to different things. Derek, Casey, Mark, Cindy, Debbie and the officials of the football team were all gagged.

"What the hell…" Sherry growled and stared at Max.

"Sherry, do you get the feeling this is the same person that attacked Mom and Dad several years ago?"

"Oddly enough, yes I do." Sherry took a step toward Max as he turned around. "Hey there, Max."

"You know my name?" Max asked.

"I also know you're dangerous."

"That's a first, the other kids couldn't tell."

"Mom was pregnant with us sixteen years ago, so we can feel it. Also there would be only one surviving person from back then and that would be you. Why have you chained up our family _and_ our customers!"

"Yeah, tell us why!" Sarah said with anger in her voice as she clenched her fists and stepped toward Max. Max smirked and crossed his arms.

"Your father put me in jail sixteen years ago, I got released and was angry at your father. The customers just happened to be here, a case of wrong place, wrong time." Max pulled his hand out of his pocket and pulled out a knife. "I have a gun in my other pocket. Sherry growled and her face grew angrier, Sarah grew slightly fearful but defensive at the same time.

"Bastard," Sherry said quietly. "Stupid little bastard…How dare you! This is the sixteenth anniversary of this diner and we're about to become sponsored by a great football team! Get your ass out of our diner!" Max laughed and charged for Sherry and Sarah. Both girls dodged the attack and Max ran into a wall. Sherry grabbed the back of Max's shirt and threw him to the side. "You're that weak, huh?"

"Don't mess with our family!" Sarah exclaimed as she swiftly tripped Max to the ground.

"I will not be made a fool of by little girls!" Max exclaimed. Sherry's eyebrow twitched slightly as she clenched her fists.

"Little what! I am not a little girl, you will _not_ call me that!" Sherry exclaimed as she grabbed Max and tossed him over to Sarah. Sarah grabbed Max and pulled him up, she growled and slapped Max several times across the face. "Don't do it like that, Sarah." Sherry walked over and grabbed Max's shirt in her fist. "Do it like this!" Sherry stared Max in the eyes and quickly punched him in the face.

"I'm so glad Aunt Marti and our grandparents aren't here to see this right now," Sarah said with a sigh. George, Nora and Marti were supposed to be arriving later in the day when they could make it. George and Nora never married each other after the wedding of Casey and Derek, but four years later they would remarry their exes and stay married.

"Damn you women!" Max exclaimed. "I'll kill you!" Max pulled out the gun in his pocket and aimed it toward Sarah. Sherry swiftly kicked the gun out of his hand. Sarah dashed in and picked up the gun, she swiftly threw it over the edge of the building.

"Was that entirely necessary, Sarah?" Sherry asked with narrow eyes.

"My gun!" Max exclaimed as he ran toward the edge of the building. He turned to face the girls and growled. "That was my most treasured item."

"Wow that sucks." Sherry crossed her arms and smirked. "It also sucks to be you."

"You love insulting people don't you?" Sarah asked.

"Yes I do." Sherry smiled and glanced over at Max. "So Max, are you going to attack now?"

"I'd recommend giving it up," Sarah said with a small sigh. "When Sherry gets mad, she gets mad."

"I'm proud of it too! I get it from my father."

"Yes and I get the whole softness from mom I guess."

"Sometimes you are too soft…"

"Shut up already!" Max exclaimed. "I'm right here, are you ignoring me!"

"Actually yes we are," Sherry said with a smirk on her face. Max growled and twirled the knife in his hand.

"You bitches annoy the crap out of me, die!" Max started to rush toward the girls but suddenly fell back as a burning sensation ran through his chest. Two more gunshots were heard and two bullets ran through Max's chest as he fell backwards off of the building. "No!" Sherry and Sarah blinked and looked back to see Marti standing at the doorway entrance with her gun drawn.

"I wasn't supposed to be here this early," Marti said as she put her gun in her holster and let the wind blow her hair back. "I got a call at the station that there was someone that looked like Max was attacking the Venturi Diner. I decided the Chief of Police should pay a visit."

"Aunt Marti!" Sarah called out as she ran toward Marti and hugged her. Sherry smiled and hugged Marti. At the age of twenty six, Marti was the youngest police chief in the city, she had gone through promotions rather quickly when she joined the police force. Marti pulled out a radio and spoke into it.

"Okay, we're going to need a few cars at the diner. The criminal has fallen." Marti walked over to the edge of the building and looked down. "We may want to take that literally as well. Let's get this scum off the sidewalk before my parents and my brother's mother in law get over here." Marti put the radio back to her belt and smiled as several officers that arrived with her untied those who were tied up. "Well this place will be getting some guests today." Derek and Casey hugged their daughters.

"Don't ever do that again," Casey said quickly.

"Don't listen to your mom," Derek said with a wink. "I am very proud of you." Casey blinked and looked over at Derek.

"Derek!"

"Don't ever do that again, girls!" Sherry and Sarah smiled as Derek secretly patted them on the back. Derek looked at Marti and crossed his arms. "Who called the police?"

"Probably the football player hiding behind the wall over there," Marti said as she pointed to a wall. A football player stepped out into view and smiled. "Apparently our old friend, Max, didn't get everyone. I think he arrived late. Now, I'm hungry, I think the officer's here and those football officials are hungry, let's get this place started."

"Yeah, most of our servers should be coming soon," Casey said with a nod. "We'll go get the food cooked for you and the officials." Casey and Derek left the rooftop to make the food.

**-NEW SCENE-**

Within hours the place was full and the football officials were done munching on the food. Derek, Casey, Sherry, Sarah, Mark, Cindy, and Debbie all stood next to the officials as they talked amongst themselves. Marti was with George and Nora and George's wife as they ate. Max's body had been removed, courtesy of the local paramedics.

"We love this food," The president of the football company said quickly. "We haven't tasted anything quite like this!"

"Exactly," The associate president stated quickly. "This is a fine establishment. The food makes up for the terrifying experience."

"I would say that was actually more of a thrill than a terror."

"Are you sure about that, sir?"

"Yes, very much so, it was an entertaining experience that I'm sure none of us will ever forget."

"This is true, it was a very entertaining experience."

"We just won't mention that as we sponsor this fine establishment!"

"You have our sponsorship, congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Venturi."

"Thank you," Derek said with a smile as he shook hands with the officials. The officials shook the hand of each Venturi member and left the area.

"We have the sponsorship, great!" Casey said quickly.

"Yeah and we don't have to worry about Max again," Derek said quietly.

"I'll be right back." Casey kissed Derek and smiled as she walked over to another table and pulled out a journal. Sherry and Sarah walked over and looked at the old looking journal.

"What is that, mom?" Sarah asked. "Why is your journal torn up?"

"Oh, it's very old. It goes way back to the late eighteen hundreds, one of your ancestors first wrote in it, and I even wrote in it."

"Why would you keep and write in something so old?" Sherry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well it's very treasured, it's almost like a novel. It describes the Venturi's and what they've done for the McDonalds."

"You mean it's like another Ivanhoe thing?" Sherry groaned as Sarah's eyes beamed up.

"Is Dad in here?!" Sarah asked quickly. Casey smiled and nodded her head as Sarah quickly opened the book to the first page. "Whoa, the Vitale family is here too." Sherry blinked and looked in the journal as well.

"Come on Tony!" Sherry said quickly. "You can beat…Ouch!"

"Tony Venturi lost," Sarah said with a frown. Sherry turned the page and scowled.

"Every single one of them lose! How the hell can the McDonalds stay in love with them!" Casey smiled softly and looked at the girls.

"If they didn't continue losing, I would never have fallen in love with your father," Casey said quietly. Sherry and Sarah raised their eyebrows and looked at Casey. "Why don't you skip the depressing stuff and turn to my entry."

"Might as well," Sherry said as she and Sarah turned the pages. While looking through the pages, they saw many tear stains and sometimes even a bloodstain.

"Mom, why are there so many stains on the pages?" Sarah asked.

"Those are from the McDonalds that lost the Venturi they loved," Casey responded with a low and quiet voice. "They cried over the loss and sometimes they hurt themselves apparently. My pages are the cleanest as you girls will find out." The girls finally found Casey's first entry and read it with wide eyes. Sarah let out a squeal and Sherry covered her ear quickly.

"Sarah!" Sherry exclaimed. "Do you _have_ to do that!"

"Daddy is so brave!" Sarah said with joy.

"Yeah, he is," Casey said with a smile as she looked up at Derek who was talking to Marti about something. "He's the bravest, kindest and sweetest man I have ever met." Casey looked at the girls and smiled. "I was going to write an entry in for today because today actually ends it all, even though Max wasn't a Vitale. Instead, why don't you write in the final entry…I'm going to talk to your father about something." Sarah and Sherry nodded as Casey stood up and walked away, they sat down and picked up a pen.

"So what shall we write?" Sherry asked.

"Something meaningful and important," Sarah said with a nod. "Let me see that pen a moment." Sarah took the pen and wrote two words.

_"Big News…"_ She then tapped the pen to her chin and wrote some more. _"Max is defeated today by Sherry, Sarah and Marti Venturi."_

"Where is the closure though?" Sarah asked. "Something that when our children read and our grandchildren read, they know its over." Sherry smirked and took the pen from her sister's hand.

"I have an idea." Sherry started to write in the journal.

_"Big news, the war has ended entirely today, peace is restored in the Venturi-McDonald house. The Venturi's and McDonald's have become one, it's over."_ Sherry skipped a few lines of the page and smiled as she wrote a final statement.

_"The daughters of Derek Venturi and Casey McDonald-Venturi, Sherry and Sarah Venturi say this: The End."_

* * *

I was actually thinking of ending it with the girls losing the journal and a teacher finds it. A few years later it would be the new "Ivanhoe" persay and it would finally wind up in the hands of one of the girls' decendents. Anyaway, that's the end of the story! I hope you enjoyed it and thanks to all who reviewed!

Please go read the story I'm working on, it is a crossover but has Life with Derek playing a major role. Like this it is also a Derek/Casey match. The story is called Camp Hell and I'd like a few readers and reviewers on it. It would be much appreciated if you did.


End file.
